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Updated: Apr 30, 2026
Imaging the Human Immunological Synapse
Published on: December 26, 2019
What counts in the immunological synapse?
1Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology, Nuffield Department of Orthopedics, Rheumatology, and Musculoskeletal Sciences, The University of Oxford, Roosevelt Drive, Headington OX3 7FY, UK; Skirball Institute of Biomolecular Medicine, Department of Pathology, New York University School of Medicine, 540 First Avenue, New York, NY 10016, USA.
Molecular interactions at the interface between helper T cells and antigen-presenting B cells govern the ability to produce specific antibodies, which is a central event in protective immunity generated by natural infection or man-made vaccines. In order for a T cell to deliver effective help to a B cell and guide affinity maturation, it needs to provide feedback that is proportional to the amount of antigen the B cell collects with its surface antibody. This review focuses on mechanisms by which T and B cells manage to count the products of antigen capture and encourage B cells with the best receptors to dominate the response and make antibody-producing plasma cells. We discuss what is known about the proportionality of T cells responses to presented antigens and consider the mechanisms that B cells may use to keep count of positive feedback from T cells.
Molecular interactions at the interface between helper T cells and antigen-presenting B cells govern the ability to produce specific antibodies, which is a central event in protective immunity generated by natural infection or man-made vaccines. In order for a T cell to deliver effective help to a B cell and guide affinity maturation, it needs to provide feedback that is proportional to the amount of antigen the B cell collects with its surface antibody. This review focuses on mechanisms by which T and B cells manage to count the products of antigen capture and encourage B cells with the best receptors to dominate the response and make antibody-producing plasma cells. We discuss what is known about the proportionality of T cells responses to presented antigens and consider the mechanisms that B cells may use to keep count of positive feedback from T cells.
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