Cookies on this website

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you click 'Accept all cookies' we'll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies and you won't see this message again. If you click 'Reject all non-essential cookies' only necessary cookies providing core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility will be enabled. Click 'Find out more' for information on how to change your cookie settings.

Recently implemented fluorescence imaging techniques, such as total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy and two-photon laser scanning microscopy, have made possible multiscale analysis of the immune response from single molecules in an interface to cells moving in lymphoid tissues and tumors. In this review, we consider components of T cell sensitivity: the immunological synapse, the coordination of migration, and antigen recognition in vivo. Potency, dose, and detection threshold for peptide-MHC determine T cell sensitivity. The immunological synapse incorporates T cell receptor microclusters that initiate and sustain signaling, and it also determines the positional stability of the T cells through symmetry and symmetry breaking. In vivo decisions by T cells on stopping or migration are based on antigen stop signals and environmental go signals that can sometimes prevent arrest of T cells altogether, and thus can change the outcome of antigen encounters.

Original publication

DOI

10.1007/978-3-540-93864-4_3

Type

Journal article

Journal

Curr Top Microbiol Immunol

Publication Date

2009

Volume

334

Pages

47 - 70

Keywords

Animals, Humans, Immunological Synapses, Lymphocyte Activation, Microscopy, Fluorescence, Microscopy, Fluorescence, Multiphoton, Signal Transduction, T-Lymphocytes