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. 2023 Jan 13;24(2):1564. doi: 10.3390/ijms24021564

Figure 1.

Figure 1

Direct cell–cell interactions between mast cells (MCs) and CD8 T cells. The tight apposition of antigen-presenting MC and antigen-recognizing CD8 T cell initiates the formation of an immunological synapse (IS; purple cloud) at the contact interface. IS is a platform with a nano-scale gap/distance formed for cell–cell communication and continent exchange. As the first step of T cell activation, the antigenic peptides bind with MHC-I and are presented to CD8 T cells that recognize them with TCR on the cell surface. Following with MHC-TCR interaction at IS, other molecules required for enhanced T-cell activation and structure modulation are recruited. Costimulatory molecules pairs (such as CD28 and CD80/86, OX40 and OX40L, and 4-1BB and 4-1BBL) provide a second signal for the activation of naïve CD8 T cells. ICAM-1/IFA-1 are adhesion molecular pairs that are important for the formation and strengthening of IS structure. MC, mast cells; IS, immunological synapse.