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The Immunological Synapse: A Molecular Machine Controlling T Cell Activation

Arash Grakoui, Shannon K. Bromley, Cenk Sumen, Mark M. Davis, Andréy S. Shaw, Paul M. Allen, Michael Loran Dustin

Science · 1999 · 3,145 citations

Abstract

The specialized junction between a T lymphocyte and an antigen-presenting cell, the immunological synapse, consists of a central cluster of T cell receptors surrounded by a ring of adhesion molecules. Immunological synapse formation is now shown to be an active and dynamic mechanism that allows T cells to distinguish potential antigenic ligands. Initially, T cell receptor ligands were engaged in an outermost ring of the nascent synapse. Transport of these complexes into the central cluster was dependent on T cell receptor-ligand interaction kinetics. Finally, formation of a stable central cluster at the heart of the synapse was a determinative event for T cell proliferation.

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Grakoui, A., Bromley, S. K., Sumen, C., Davis, M. M., Shaw, A. S., Allen, P. M., & Dustin, M. L. (1999). The immunological synapse: A molecular machine controlling T cell activation. Science, 285(5425), 221–227. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.285.5425.221

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