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Updated: Jun 12, 2026

Spatial and Temporal Control of T Cell Activation Using a Photoactivatable Agonist
Published on: April 25, 2018
ITAM-mediated signaling by the T-cell antigen receptor
1Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA. lovep@mail.nih.gov
Abstract:
Signal transduction by the T-cell antigen receptor (TCR) is initiated by phosphorylation of conserved motifs (ITAMs) contained within the cytoplasmic domains of the invariant subunits. TCR complexes contain a total of 10 ITAMs and this unusual configuration has prompted studies of the role of specific ITAMs, or of ITAM multiplicity, in regulating TCR-directed developmental and effector responses. Here, we summarize data generated during the past two decades and discuss how these findings have in some cases resolved, and in others complicated, outstanding questions relating to the function of TCR ITAMs.
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