Figure 1. Modelling predicts that force can improve or impair antigen discrimination.

1. Depiction of (left) the dissociation of a soluble ligand and its solution off‐rate (k_off) and (right) a membrane‐anchored ligand and its membrane off‐rate (k^m _off), where the interaction is exposed to a pulling force (F).
2. The dependence of k^m _off on the pulling force at the indicated force sensitivity parameters (x_β) with k_off = 1 s⁻¹.
3. Dependence of k^m _off on k_off at zero force (grey) or under an applied force of 15 pN (coloured lines), when x_β is constant (orange), positively (blue), or negatively (red) correlated with the solution k_off. In this example a 100‐fold change in k_off (Ligand A vs. Ligand B) can be increased to a ~ 820‐fold or decreased to a ~ 12‐fold change in k^m _off, depending on whether x_β is positively or negatively correlated with the k_off, respectively.
4. The fold‐change in k^m _off for Ligand B versus Ligand A over the applied force.

Data information: All calculations are performed using the formula in (B) with x_β = 0.4 nm (orange), x_β = +0.3 log₁₀(k_off) (blue), and x_β = −0.3 log₁₀(k_off) (red) in panels C and D.