B7-H7: A potential target for cancer immunotherapy

Cancer immunotherapy enhances the body's immunity against tumors by mitigating immune escape. Compared with traditional chemotherapy, immunotherapy has the advantages of fewer drugs, a wider range of action and fewer side effects. B7-H7 (also known as HHLA2, B7y) is a member of the B7 family of costimulatory molecules that was discovered more than 20 years ago. B7-H7 is mostly expressed in organs such as the breast, intestine, gallbladder and placenta and is detected predominantly in monocytes/macrophages in the immune system. Its expression is upregulated after stimulation by inflammatory factors such as lipopolysaccharide and interferon-γ. B7-H7/transmembrane and immunoglobulin domain containing 2 (TMIGD2) and killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptor, three Ig domains and long cytoplasmic tail 3 (KIR3DL3)-B7-H7 are the two currently confirmed signaling pathways for B7-H7. An increasing number of studies have demonstrated that B7-H7 is widely present in a variety of human tumor tissues, especially in programmed cell death-1 (PD-L1)-negative human tumors. B7-H7 promotes tumor progression, disrupts T-cell-mediated antitumor immunity, and inhibits immune surveillance. B7-H7 also triggers tumor immune escape and is associated with clinical stage, depth of tumor infiltration, metastasis, prognosis, and survival related to different tumor types. Multiple studies have shown that B7-H7 is a promising immunotherapeutic target. Herein, review the current literature on the expression, regulation, receptors and function of B7-H7 and its regulation/function in tumors.