Surface-anchored monomeric agonist pMHCs alone trigger TCR with high sensitivity.

At the interface between T cell and antigen-presenting cell (APC), peptide antigen presented by MHC (pMHC) binds to the T cell receptor (TCR) and initiates signaling. The mechanism of TCR signal initiation, or triggering, remains unclear. An interesting aspect of this puzzle is that although soluble...

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Main Authors: Zhengyu Ma, Kim A Sharp, Paul A Janmey, Terri H Finkel
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2008-02-01
Series:PLoS Biology
Online Access:https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.0060043&type=printable
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author Zhengyu Ma
Kim A Sharp
Paul A Janmey
Terri H Finkel
author_facet Zhengyu Ma
Kim A Sharp
Paul A Janmey
Terri H Finkel
author_sort Zhengyu Ma
collection DOAJ
description At the interface between T cell and antigen-presenting cell (APC), peptide antigen presented by MHC (pMHC) binds to the T cell receptor (TCR) and initiates signaling. The mechanism of TCR signal initiation, or triggering, remains unclear. An interesting aspect of this puzzle is that although soluble agonist pMHCs cannot trigger TCR even at high concentrations, the same ligands trigger TCR very efficiently on the surface of APCs. Here, using lipid bilayers or plastic-based artificial APCs with defined components, we identify the critical APC-associated factors that confer agonist pMHCs with such potency. We found that CD4+ T cells are triggered by very low numbers of monomeric agonist pMHCs anchored on fluid lipid bilayers or fixed plastic surfaces, in the absence of any other APC surface molecules. Importantly, on bilayers, plastic surfaces, or real APCs, endogenous pMHCs did not enhance TCR triggering. TCR triggering, however, critically depended upon the adhesiveness of the surface and an intact T cell actin cytoskeleton. Based on these observations, we propose the receptor deformation model of TCR triggering to explain the remarkable sensitivity and specificity of TCR triggering.
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spelling doaj-art-fef7c72be6d34792a6cd7c0956fcfbdb2025-08-20T02:02:44ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS Biology1544-91731545-78852008-02-0162e4310.1371/journal.pbio.0060043Surface-anchored monomeric agonist pMHCs alone trigger TCR with high sensitivity.Zhengyu MaKim A SharpPaul A JanmeyTerri H FinkelAt the interface between T cell and antigen-presenting cell (APC), peptide antigen presented by MHC (pMHC) binds to the T cell receptor (TCR) and initiates signaling. The mechanism of TCR signal initiation, or triggering, remains unclear. An interesting aspect of this puzzle is that although soluble agonist pMHCs cannot trigger TCR even at high concentrations, the same ligands trigger TCR very efficiently on the surface of APCs. Here, using lipid bilayers or plastic-based artificial APCs with defined components, we identify the critical APC-associated factors that confer agonist pMHCs with such potency. We found that CD4+ T cells are triggered by very low numbers of monomeric agonist pMHCs anchored on fluid lipid bilayers or fixed plastic surfaces, in the absence of any other APC surface molecules. Importantly, on bilayers, plastic surfaces, or real APCs, endogenous pMHCs did not enhance TCR triggering. TCR triggering, however, critically depended upon the adhesiveness of the surface and an intact T cell actin cytoskeleton. Based on these observations, we propose the receptor deformation model of TCR triggering to explain the remarkable sensitivity and specificity of TCR triggering.https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.0060043&type=printable
spellingShingle Zhengyu Ma
Kim A Sharp
Paul A Janmey
Terri H Finkel
Surface-anchored monomeric agonist pMHCs alone trigger TCR with high sensitivity.
PLoS Biology
title Surface-anchored monomeric agonist pMHCs alone trigger TCR with high sensitivity.
title_full Surface-anchored monomeric agonist pMHCs alone trigger TCR with high sensitivity.
title_fullStr Surface-anchored monomeric agonist pMHCs alone trigger TCR with high sensitivity.
title_full_unstemmed Surface-anchored monomeric agonist pMHCs alone trigger TCR with high sensitivity.
title_short Surface-anchored monomeric agonist pMHCs alone trigger TCR with high sensitivity.
title_sort surface anchored monomeric agonist pmhcs alone trigger tcr with high sensitivity
url https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.0060043&type=printable
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AT terrihfinkel surfaceanchoredmonomericagonistpmhcsalonetriggertcrwithhighsensitivity