The Journal of Experimental Medicine
Avanti Polar Lipids, Inc.
  Home | Help | Feedback | Subscriptions | Archive | Search | Table of Contents
Published 4 October 2004. doi:10.1084/jem.20041236
Rockefeller University Press, 0022-1007 $8.00
JEM, Volume 200, Number 7, 847-856
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF, 3997K)
Right arrow PPT slides of all figures
Right arrow Supplemental Material Index
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new content in the JEM
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via CrossRef
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Miller, M. J.
Right arrow Articles by Cahalan, M. D.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Miller, M. J.
Right arrow Articles by Cahalan, M. D.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Complore   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Facebook   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati   Add to Twitter  
What's this?
Imaging the Single Cell Dynamics of CD4+ T Cell Activation by Dendritic Cells in Lymph Nodes

Mark J. Miller1, Olga Safrina1, Ian Parker2, and Michael D. Cahalan1

1 Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697
2 Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697

Address correspondence to Michael D. Cahalan, Dept. of Physiology and Biophysics, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697. Phone: (949) 824-7776; Fax: (949) 824-3143; email: mcahalan{at}uci.edu

The adaptive immune response is initiated in secondary lymphoid organs by contact between antigen-bearing dendritic cells (DCs) and antigen-specific CD4+ T cells. However, there is scant information regarding the single cell dynamics of this process in vivo. Using two-photon microscopy, we imaged the real-time behavior of naive CD4+ T cells and in vivo–labeled DCs in lymph nodes during a robust T cell response. In the first 2 h after entry into lymph nodes, T cells made short-lived contacts with antigen-bearing DCs, each contact lasting an average of 11–12 min and occurring mainly on dendrites. Altered patterns of T cell motility during this early stage of antigen recognition promoted serial engagement with several adjacent DCs. Subsequently, T cell behavior progressed through additional distinct stages, including long-lived clusters, dynamic swarms, and finally autonomous migration punctuated by cell division. These observations suggest that the immunological synapse in native tissues is remarkably fluid, and that stable synapses form only at specific stages of antigen presentation to T cells. Furthermore, the serial nature of these interactions implies that T cells activate by way of multiple antigen recognition events.

Key Words: two-photon microscopy • T lymphocyte • immunological synapse • lymph node • antigen presentation

I. Parker and M.D. Cahalan contributed equally to this work.

Abbreviations used in this paper: DTH, delayed type hypersensitivity; IS, immunological synapse.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Facebook Facebook   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati   Add to Twitter Twitter    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:



  Home | Help | Feedback | Subscriptions | Archive | Search
TABLE OF CONTENTS