HAVCR2 and gastrointestinal stromal tumor: However, there is another idea that the Tim-3/gal-9 pathway mediated immune checkpoint mechanism might inhibit NK cell function in gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) tissues, and this inhibition might be achieved by inhibiting or activating a complex mosaic of receptors, possibly depending on signal strength (Komita et al., 2015).