Fig. 1.

Multifocal and uniform models of IS assembly. a TEM of D10 CD4⁺ T cell interacting with CH27 APC in the presence of 1 μM antigenic peptide, 15 min after the onset of coupling. Note relative paucity of contact area compared to synaptic regions. b Models for synaptic membrane configurations in cell–cell synapse and T-cell–bilayer synapse models. In this model, each contact region may be thought of as a microcosm of a bilayer contact in which microclusters of TCRs move and coalesce in a membrane patch (expanded views)