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Credit: S. C. Bunnell et al. and Science's STKE
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The body's defense against foreign invaders begins with recognition of the intruder by T cell receptors at a specialized junction called the immunological synapse. But how does this contact translate to a full-fledged immune response? S. C. Bunnell et al. have combined immunofluorescent staining with high-resolution imaging of T cells responding to substrate-bound antibodies, to visualize the dynamic signaling complexes involved in this cascade of events. This movie [1.3 MB] shows the movement of SLP-76 -- a protein mediator involved in T cell receptor signaling -- in response to T cell activation. (The Bunnell et al. protocol appears on Science's Signal Transduction Knowledge Environment.) Similar studies using this approach will greatly enhance our understanding of the molecular interactions that underlie the immune response.
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