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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2013 Nov 1.
Published in final edited form as: Immunol Rev. 2012 Nov;250(1):102–119. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-065X.2012.01161.x

Fig. 10. TCR activation by mechanical force.

Fig. 10

(A) Cartoon showing tangential T-cell scanning of an APC surface. (B) A 17A2 anti-CD3 mAb coated bead is approximated to a T cell using an optical trap. A tangential force is applied on the cell as shown by the double-headed arrow. Fluorescence image reporting of intracellular calcium dynamics show signaling in the T cells upon application of mechanical force to the bead but not in the absence of mechanical force (top and bottom rows, respectively). (C) Torque on TCR-pMHC interaction initiates signaling action (pMHC, orange; Cβ FG loop, magenta; and TCR complex, other colors). (D) Signaling (fluorescence increase) in TCR transgenic N15 T cells [specific for vesicular stomatitus virus octapeptide (VSV-8) bound to MHC Kb] occurs only in the presence of tangential mechanical force (MF) and only for stimulatory VSV8/Kb pMHC but not irrelevant SEV9/Kb pMHC molecules (72). Stimulation is achieved at 10 relevant pMHC copies per bead.