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Updated: Mar 23, 2026

Assessment of the Synaptic Interface of Primary Human T Cells from Peripheral Blood and Lymphoid Tissue
Published on: July 30, 2018
Human Cytotoxic T Lymphocytes Form Dysfunctional Immune Synapses with B Cells Characterized by Non-Polarized Lytic
Anna Kabanova1, Francesca Sanseviero1, Veronica Candi2
1Department of Life Sciences, University of Siena, via Aldo Moro 2, Siena 53100, Italy.
Abstract:
Suppression of the cytotoxic T cell (CTL) immune response has been proposed as one mechanism for immune evasion in cancer. In this study, we have explored the underlying basis for CTL suppression in the context of B cell malignancies. We document that human B cells have an intrinsic ability to resist killing by freshly isolated cytotoxic T cells (CTLs), but are susceptible to lysis by IL-2 activated CTL blasts and CTLs isolated from immunotherapy-treated patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Impaired killing was associated with the formation of dysfunctional non-lytic immune synapses characterized by the presence of defective linker for activation of T cells (LAT) signaling and non-polarized release of the lytic granules transported by ADP-ribosylation factor-like protein 8 (Arl8). We propose that non-lytic degranulation of CTLs are a key regulatory mechanism of evasion through which B cells may interfere with the formation of functional immune synapses by CTLs.
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