Table 2.

Studies examining the roles of Tim family members in autoimmune diseases.

Tim	Autoimmune disease	Conclusion	Ref
Tim-1	MS	Tim-1-/- B cell mice developed more severe EAE. Transfer of Tim-1+ B cells reduced the severity of EAE in mice.	(28)
	RA	A polymorphism in the Tim-1 gene was related to RA in a Chinese Hui population, and a polymorphism of the Tim-1 promoter region may be related to the susceptibility to RA in Korean populations.	(52, 53)
	SLE	Tim-1 expression in PBMCs was increased in patients with SLE compared with healthy controls and was positively correlated with IL-10 expression.	(54)
	T1D	The numbers of Tim-1+ Tregs and Tim-4+ Tregs in patients with T1D and NOD mice were significantly reduced.	(55)
Tim-3	MS	Tim-3 expression in PBMCs from patients with MS helped predict the prognosis of the disease. Higher Tim-3 expression was associated with a better prognosis than lower Tim-3 expression.	(56)
	RA	Increased expression of Tim-3 in peripheral blood T cells from patients with RA was negatively correlated with the DAS28 and plasma TNF-α levels.	(57)
	SLE	The expression of Tim-3 and Gal-9 in T cells was increased in patients with SLE compared with healthy controls.	(58)
	T1D	In mice treated with a Gal-9 plasmid, inflammation of the pancreatic islets was reduced, and the number of Th1 cells was significantly reduced.	(59)
Tim-4	MS	Tim-4 has been shown to play a critical role in the T cell-mediated immune response.	(14, 60)
	RA	Increased expression of Tim-3 in peripheral blood T cells from patients with RA was negatively correlated with the DAS28 and plasma TNF-α levels.	(61)
	SLE	The Tim-4 mRNA was expressed at significantly higher levels in PBMCs from patients with SLE than in PBMCs from healthy controls and was positively correlated with Tim-1 mRNA and serum TNF-α levels.	(62)
	T1D	The numbers of Tim-1+ Tregs and Tim-4+ Tregs in patients with T1D and NOD mice were significantly reduced.	(55)