TCRs are randomly distributed on the plasma membrane of resting antigen-experienced T cells.

ABSTRACT: The main function of T cells is to identify harmful antigens as quickly and precisely as possible. Super-resolution microscopy data have indicated that global clustering of T cell antigen receptors (TCRs) occurs before T cell activation. Such pre-activation clustering has been interpreted as representing a potential regulatory mechanism that fine tunes the T cell response. We found here that apparent TCR nanoclustering could be attributed to overcounting artifacts inherent to single-molecule-localization microscopy. Using complementary super-resolution approaches and statistical image analysis, we found no indication of global nanoclustering of TCRs on antigen-experienced CD4⁺ T cells under non-activating conditions. We also used extensive simulations of super-resolution images

SUBMITTER: Rossboth B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6071872 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature