Bimodal regulation of T cell-mediated immune responses by TIM-4

T cell Ig and mucin domain (TIM)-4 is preferentially expressed on antigen-presenting cells, and its counter-ligand, TIM-1, is thought to deliver co-stimulating signals to T cells. However, the physiological functions of TIM-4 remain unclear. Here, we demonstrate that TIM-4 inhibits naive T cell activation through a ligand other than TIM-1. The inhibitory effect of TIM-4 was specific to naive T cells which do not express TIM-1, and the effect disappeared in pre-activated T cells. Conversely, antibody-mediated blockade of TIM-4 in vivo substantially suppressed T cell-mediated inflammatory responses despite enhanced generation of antigen-specific T cells. Furthermore, treatment with anti-TIM-4 reduced the inflammatory responses developed in mice that were adoptively transferred with antigen-primed T cells. These results suggest that TIM-4 exerts bimodal functions depending on the activation status of T cells.