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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2021 May 16.
Published in final edited form as: Nat Rev Immunol. 2019 Apr;19(4):205–217. doi: 10.1038/s41577-019-0131-x

Figure 3 |. Variable confinement of cytokine-mediated communication within the T cell immunological synapse.

Figure 3 |

a | For a tight-sealed immunological synapse between a CD4+ T helper cell and antigen-presenting cell (APC), there are differential patterns of cytokine secretion29. In this example, IFNγ is directionally released into the immunological synapse to mediate short-range communication, whereas tumour necrosis factor (TNF) is more multidirectional in its secretion pattern and thus mediates longer-range communication. b | For a leaky immunological synapse, even those cytokines such as IFNγ that are released into the synapse73,74 can be involved in longer-range multicellular interactions as a result of a limited consumption rate by the synapsed APC. This is known as the ‘two-pathway’ model of cytokine secretion. [Au:OK?] [Actually, ‘a’ is the ‘Two-pathway’ model, whereas ‘b’ is called the ‘leaky synaptic’ model.]