Modeling Peptide-MHC Complex/T Cell Receptor Dynamics in the Immunological
Synapse
The activation of a T cell begins with the formation of
an ``immunological synapse,'' a region of contact
between a T cell and an antigen presenting cell (APC).
Shortly after its formation, two well-defined regions within the
immunological synapse are observed, an inner region where T cell
receptors (TCR) on the T cell and peptide-MHC complexes on the APC
interact and an outer annulus where adhesion bonds collect. We
present a model of the dynamics of TCR-peptide-MHC complex
interactions in the contact area, and use the model to assess the
roles of serial engagement, TCR oligomerization, and kinetic
proofreading in T cell activation.