Biophysics explains how immune cells kill bacteria
A new data analysis technique, moving subtrajectory analysis, designed by researchers at Tokyo Institute of Technology, defines the dynamics and kinetics of key molecules in the immune response to an infection. These biophysical descriptions are expected to clarify the TCR microcluster, an essential assembly for a T cell to initiate its attack on a pathogen.
To kill a pathogen invading the human body, T cells, or lymphocytes, bind to it through T cell receptors (TCR). One of the first events this binding initiates is the formation of a microcluster that includes tens or hundreds of TCR molecules. These microclusters are deemed essential to initiate and sustain the immune signal. A new analysis technique by scientists at School of Life Sciences at Tokyo Institute of Technology provides a quantitative description of the molecules that form these microclusters. The study can be read in Scientific Reports.
Yuma Ito et al, Multi-color single-molecule tracking and subtrajectory analysis for quantification of spatiotemporal dynamics and kinetics upon T cell activation, Scientific Reports (2017). DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-06960-z
(A) Schematic illustration. (B) Representative image of simultaneous three-color single-molecule observation of CD3ζ-EGFP (green), Qdot 655-labeled CD3ε (red), and Qdot 585-labeled CD45 (blue) in living Jurkat cells at 37?°C. Bar, 5?μm. Credit: Tokyo Institute of Technology
