Biophysical mechanism of T-cell receptor triggering in a reconstituted system.

ABSTRACT: A T-cell-mediated immune response is initiated by the T-cell receptor (TCR) interacting with peptide-bound major histocompatibility complex (pMHC) on an infected cell. The mechanism by which this interaction triggers intracellular phosphorylation of the TCR, which lacks a kinase domain, remains poorly understood. Here, we have introduced the TCR and associated signalling molecules into a non-immune cell and reconstituted ligand-specific signalling when these cells are conjugated with antigen-presenting cells. We show that signalling requires the differential segregation of a phosphatase and kinase in the plasma membrane. An artificial, chemically controlled receptor system generates the same effect as TCR–pMHC, demonstrating that the binding energy of an extracellular protein–protein inter

SUBMITTER: James JR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3393772 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature