Aim: To investigate the expression of LAIR-1 in patients with tumors and the function of LAIR-1 in anticancer immunity.
Methods: A sandwich ELISA was employed to detect the serum sLAIR-1 from tumor patients and healthy individuals. The expression of LAIR-1 in CD4+ T cells, CD8+ T cells, NK cells and B cells isolated from the peripheral blood of cancer patients was examined by fluorescence staining and flow cytometry.
Results: The level of serum sLAIR-1 in tumor patients was higher than that in healthy individuals [4.6+/-3.2 microg/L vs 3.9+/-3.0 microg/L, P<0.05]. NK cells, CD4+ T cells and CD8+ T cells expressed the up-regulated LAIR-1. The ratio of CD4/CD8 in lung cancer patients decreased significantly while the percentage of B cells in cancer patients increased greatly compared with healthy individuals.
Conclusion: The expression of LAIR-1 is up-regulated in tumor patients, which may contribute to cancer immune escape.