【Cell】Structural images of T cell receptors, revealing the mechanism of action of T cell receptors!

Introduction: The vertebrate immune system is a powerful weapon against cancer cells and foreign pathogens

For T cells that coordinate adaptive responses, the solution is to convert pathogens and tumors into short (up to 24 residues) peptides for presentation to the T cell receptor (TCR) as a major histocompatibility complex (MHC) A complex of proteins (peptide-loaded MHC [pMHC])

Many surface receptors transmit signals to the interior of cells by changing their spatial structure upon ligand binding

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01Research process

For structural analysis, the researchers selected a T-cell receptor for melanoma for immunotherapy treatment and optimized several steps to bind its antigen as tightly as possible

With the completion of the collection of images on the cryo-electron microscope, providing breakthrough insights into how T cell receptors work, as Tampé said: "On the basis of our structural analysis, we were able to show that the T cell receptors work.

Cryo-electron microscopy analysis of pMHC-linked TCRs

02

The structure of the gp100/HLA-A2/TCR complex was determined by cryo-electron microscopy using an all-gold scaffold of hydrophilic graphene monolayers to preserve the fully assembled multiprotein complex

03Future Outlook

An unresolved question of research is how antigen binding leads to T cell activation

"Our structure is a blueprint for future research on T cell activation," Tampé said

References:

https://phys.

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