Three-Dimensional Gradients of Cytokine Signaling between T Cells.

ABSTRACT: Immune responses are regulated by diffusible mediators, the cytokines, which act at sub-nanomolar concentrations. The spatial range of cytokine communication is a crucial, yet poorly understood, functional property. Both containment of cytokine action in narrow junctions between immune cells (immunological synapses) and global signaling throughout entire lymph nodes have been proposed, but the conditions under which they might occur are not clear. Here we analyze spatially three-dimensional reaction-diffusion models for the dynamics of cytokine signaling at two successive scales: in immunological synapses and in dense multicellular environments. For realistic parameter values, we observe local spatial gradients, with the cytokine concentration around secreting cells decaying sharply across

SUBMITTER: Thurley K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4414419 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature