McCann Fiona E, Suhling Klaus, Carlin Leo M, Eleme Konstantina, Taner Sabrina B, Yanagi Kumiko, Vanherberghen Bruno, French Paul M W, Davis Daniel M
Department of Biological Sciences, Sir Alexander Fleming Building, Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, London, UK.
Immunol Rev. 2002 Nov;189:179-92. doi: 10.1034/j.1600-065x.2002.18915.x.
As T cells and natural killer (NK) cells survey the surface of other cells, cognate receptors and ligands are commonly organized into distinct micrometer-scale domains at the intercellular contact, creating an immune or immunological synapse (IS). We aim to address the still unanswered questions of how this organization of proteins aids immune surveillance and how these domains are biophysically constructed. Molecular mechanisms for the formation of the IS include a role for the cytoskeleton, segregation of proteins according to the size of their extracellular domains, and association of proteins with lipid rafts. Towards understanding the function of the IS, it is instructive to compare and contrast the supramolecular organization of proteins at the inhibitory and activating NK cell IS with that at the activating T cell IS. Finally, it is essential to develop new technologies for probing molecular recognition at cell surfaces. Imaging parameters other than fluorescence intensity, such as the lifetime of the fluorophore's excited state, could be used to report on protein environments.
当T细胞和自然杀伤（NK）细胞监测其他细胞表面时，同源受体和配体通常在细胞间接触处组织成不同的微米级结构域，形成免疫或免疫突触（IS）。我们旨在解决蛋白质的这种组织如何辅助免疫监测以及这些结构域如何通过生物物理方式构建等尚未得到解答的问题。免疫突触形成的分子机制包括细胞骨架的作用、根据蛋白质胞外结构域大小进行蛋白质分离以及蛋白质与脂筏的结合。为了理解免疫突触的功能，将抑制性和激活性NK细胞免疫突触处蛋白质的超分子组织与激活性T细胞免疫突触处的进行比较和对比是很有启发性的。最后，开发用于探测细胞表面分子识别的新技术至关重要。除荧光强度外的成像参数，如荧光团激发态的寿命，可用于报告蛋白质环境。
