Dok-3 deficient mice display different immune clustering and Tim-3 expression

Background Dok-3 has been shown to play an important role in immune system. Tim-3 also has been recognized as an important immune regulator which involves in many diseases. The relationship of them is still unclear. Methods We detected the expression of Tim-3 on spleen immune cells from Dok-3 deficient mice and control mice by flow cytometry. Results In this article, we found that Dok-3−/− mice display almost entirely different immune clustering characteristics compared with wild type 129 mice. The CD4 T cells and CD8 T cells decreased and DC cells, macrophages, MDSCs increased when the Dok-3 gene knocked-out. The Tim-3 expression on CD4 T cells, CD8 T cells, NK cells, DC cells increased when the Dok-3 gene knocked-out. The macrophages and MDSCs just display the opposite results. Conclusions Although Dok-3−/− mice display different immune clustering and Tim-3 expression, the mechanism still needs further study. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s40001-019-0384-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.