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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2014 Mar 12.
Published in final edited form as: Nanomedicine (Lond). 2013 Jul;8(7):1173–1189. doi: 10.2217/nnm.13.98

Figure 1. A biological antigen-presenting cell interacting with a T cell and an artificial antigen-presenting cell interacting with a T cell.

Figure 1

In the biological setting, the recognition signal (‘signal 1’) is provided by the interaction of pMHC with the TCR complex, composed of a TCR heterodimer and signaling CD3 chains. Costimulation (‘signal 2’) occurs through a variety of cell surface protein mediators; the B7.1–CD28 interaction is often used in artificial antigen-presenting cell constructs. T-cell fate is also determined classically by the cytokine milieu-sensed signal (‘signal 3’).

pMHC: Peptide in MHC; TCR: T-cell receptor.