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The immunological synapse (SMACS) | |
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What was known before? Activation of T cells by antigen-presenting cells (APC) depends on the complex integration of signals that are delivered by multiple antigen receptors. At the time, most receptor-proximal activation events in T cells had been identified using multivalent anti-receptor antibodies. Yet these antibodies failed to trigger some of the physiological activation steps. This fact raised questions about the structure and molecular organisation of the contact zone between T cell and antigen presenting cell. The important questions Which events trigger the signalling cascade in T cells during responses to native ligands? How are early signalling molecules organized in the contact zone of T cell and antigen-presenting cell? The experiment  Related paper Monks CR, Freiberg BA, Kupfer H, Sciaky N, Kupfer A. 1998. Three-dimensional segregation of supramolecular activation clusters in T cells. Nature 395: 82-6. |
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