PD-1 & TIM-3

Every year, thousands of dogs are diagnosed with cancer. Canine cancers share many of the characteristics of human cancers, including tissue location, tumor progression, and response to chemotherapy and radiation. Unfortunately, the canine lymphocyte population is not as well defined as human lymphocytes, and reagents targeting the immune checkpoint pathway have not been widely used in veterinary research. Interruption of the programmed death 1 (PD-1)/programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) pathway is an established and effective therapeutic strategy in human oncology and may also be effective in the treatment of canine cancers.

T cell immunoglobulin and mucin-domain-containing molecule-3 (Tim-3) has been shown to influence autoimmune diseases; however, its function in viral infection has not been well-defined.