Abstract
After homing to lymph nodes, CD8+ T cells are primed by dendritic cells (DCs) in three phases. During phase one, T cells undergo brief serial contacts with DCs for several hours, whereas phase two is characterized by stable T cell-DC interactions. We show here that the duration of phase one and T cell activation kinetics correlated inversely with the number of complexes of cognate peptide and major histocompatibility complex (pMHC) per DC and with the density of antigen-presenting DCs per lymph node. Very few pMHC complexes were necessary for the induction of full-fledged T cell activation and effector differentiation. However, neither T cell activation nor transition to phase two occurred below a threshold antigen dose determined in part by pMHC stability. Thus, phase one permits T cells to make integrated 'measurements' of antigen dose that determine subsequent T cell participation in immune responses.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 282-291 |
Number of pages | 10 |
Journal | Nature Immunology |
Volume | 9 |
Issue number | 3 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Mar 2008 |
Externally published | Yes |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:We thank T. Buschman for assistance with programming; M. van den Broek for providing cDNA constructs for the P14 TCR; and G. Cheng and J. Alton for technical and secretarial assistance, respectively. Supported by the National Institutes of Health (AI069259 and AI072252 to U.H.v.A.; HL07623 and Medical Scientist Training Program to S.E.H.; HL066987 to T.R.M.; PO1 AI071195-01 for H.Z., M.N.A. and A.K.C.).
Funding
We thank T. Buschman for assistance with programming; M. van den Broek for providing cDNA constructs for the P14 TCR; and G. Cheng and J. Alton for technical and secretarial assistance, respectively. Supported by the National Institutes of Health (AI069259 and AI072252 to U.H.v.A.; HL07623 and Medical Scientist Training Program to S.E.H.; HL066987 to T.R.M.; PO1 AI071195-01 for H.Z., M.N.A. and A.K.C.).
Funders | Funder number |
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Medical Scientist Training Program | HL066987, PO1 AI071195-01 |
National Institutes of Health | HL07623, AI069259, AI072252 |
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases | P01AI071195 |