T cell receptor (TCR) clustering in the immunological synapse integrates TCR and costimulatory signaling in selected T cells

During T cell activation, T cell receptors (TCR) cluster at the center of the T cell/antigen-presenting cell interface forming a key component of the immunological synapse. The function of this TCR clustering is still unresolved. A comprehensive search for such a function yielded a very limited and specific result. A micrometer-scale receptor clustering integrated the TCR and CD28 signals required for IL-2 secretion in primary 5C.C7 T cells, a low-affinity/avidity TCR system. 5C.C7 TCR signaling itself was not affected. In addition, central TCR accumulation was not required for any T cell effector function tested in three other TCR transgenic models. Central TCR accumulation thus had a specific role in signaling integration in low-affinity T cells

Stepwise cytoskeletal polarization as a series of checkpoints in innate but not adaptive cytolytic killing

Cytolytic killing is a major effector mechanism in the elimination of virally infected and tumor cells. The innate cytolytic effectors, natural killer (NK) cells, and the adaptive effectors, cytotoxic T cells (CTL), despite differential immune recognition, both use the same lytic mechanism, cytolytic granule release. Using live cell video fluorescence microscopy in various primary cell models of NK cell and CTL killing, we show here that on tight target cell contact, a majority of the NK cells established cytoskeletal polarity required for effective lytic function slowly or incompletely. In contrast, CTLs established cytoskeletal polarity rapidly. In addition, NK cell killing was uniquely sensitive to minor interference with cytoskeletal dynamics. We propose that the stepwise NK cell cytoskeletal polarization constitutes a series of checkpoints in NK cell killing. In addition, the use of more deliberate progression to effector function to compensate for inferior immune recognition specificity provides a mechanistic explanation for how the same effector function can be used in the different functional contexts of the innate and adaptive immune response

Eμ-TCL1 mice represent a model for immunotherapeutic reversal of chronic lymphocytic leukemia-induced T-cell dysfunction

Preclinical animal models have largely ignored the immune-suppressive mechanisms that are important in human cancers. The identification and use of such models should allow better predictions of successful human responses to immunotherapy. As a model for changes induced in nonmalignant cells by cancer, we examined T-cell function in the chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) Eμ-TCL1 transgenic mouse model. With development of leukemia, Eμ-TCL1 transgenic mice developed functional T-cell defects and alteration of gene and protein expression closely resembling changes seen in CLL human patients. Furthermore, infusion of CLL cells into young Eμ-TCL1 mice induced defects comparable to those seen in mice with developed leukemia, demonstrating a causal relationship between leukemia and the T-cell defects. Altered pathways involved genes regulating actin remodeling, and T cells exhibited dysfunctional immunological synapse formation and T-cell signaling, which was reversed by the immunomodulatory drug lenalidomide. These results further demonstrate the utility of this animal model of CLL and define a versatile model to investigate both the molecular mechanisms of cancer-induced immune suppression and immunotherapeutic repair strategies

Quantifying signaling-induced reorientation of T cell receptors during immunological synapse formation

Productive T cell recognition of antigen-presenting cells (APCs) is normally accompanied by the formation of a cell–cell contact called the “immunological synapse.” Our understanding of the steps leading up to this formation has been limited by the absence of tools for analyzing 3D surfaces and surface distributions as they change over time. Here we use a 3D fluorescence quantitation method to show that T cell receptors are recruited in bulk within the first minute after the onset of activation and with velocities ranging from 0.04 to 0.1 μm/s; a speed significantly greater than unrestricted diffusion. Our method reveals a second feature of this reorientation: a conformational change as the T cell pushes more total membrane into the interface creating a larger contact area for additional receptors. Analysis of individual T cell receptor velocities using a single-particle tracking method confirms our velocity measurement. This method should permit the quantitation of other dynamic membrane events and the associated movement of cell-surface molecules

Synaptic pattern formation during cellular recognition

Cell–cell recognition often requires the formation of a highly organized pattern of receptor proteins (a synapse) in the intercellular junction. Recent experiments [e.g., Monks, C. R. F., Freiberg, B. A., Kupfer, H., Sciaky, N. & Kupfer, A. (1998) Nature (London) 395, 82–86; Grakoui, A., Bromley, S. K., Sumen, C., Davis, M. M., Shaw, A. S., Allen, P. M. & Dustin, M. L. (1999) Science 285, 221–227; and Davis, D. M., Chiu, I., Fassett, M., Cohen, G. B., Mandelboim, O. & Strominger, J. L. (1999) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 96, 15062–15067] vividly demonstrate a complex evolution of cell shape and spatial receptor–ligand patterns (several microns in size) in the intercellular junction during immunological synapse formation. The current view is that this dynamic rearrangement of proteins into organized supramolecular activation clusters is driven primarily by active cytoskeletal processes [e.g., Dustin, M. L. & Cooper, J. A. (2000) Nat. Immunol. 1, 23–29; and Wulfing, C. & Davis, M. M. (1998) Science 282, 2266–2269]. Here, aided by a quantitative analysis of the relevant physico-chemical processes, we demonstrate that the essential characteristics of synaptic patterns observed in living cells can result from spontaneous self-assembly processes. Active cellular interventions are superimposed on these self-organizing tendencies and may also serve to regulate the spontaneous processes. We find that the protein binding/dissociation characteristics, protein mobilities, and membrane constraints measured in the cellular environment are delicately balanced such that the length and time scales of spontaneously evolving patterns are in near-quantitative agreement with observations for synapse formation between T cells and supported membranes [Grakoui, A., Bromley, S. K., Sumen, C., Davis, M. M., Shaw, A. S., Allen, P. M. & Dustin, M. L. (1999) Science 285, 221–227]. The model we present provides a common way of analyzing immunological synapse formation in disparate systems (e.g., T cell/antigen-presenting cell junctions with different MHC-peptides, natural killer cells, etc.)