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Concerning immune synapses: a spatiotemporal timeline
Alvaro Ortega-Carrion1, Miguel Vicente-Manzanares1
1Immunology Section, Department of Medicine, Universidad Autonoma de Madrid School of Medicine, Madrid, Spain.
Abstract:
The term "immune synapse" was originally coined to highlight the similarities between the synaptic contacts between neurons in the central nervous system and the cognate, antigen-dependent interactions between T cells and antigen-presenting cells. Here, instead of offering a comprehensive molecular catalogue of molecules involved in the establishment, stabilization, function, and resolution of the immune synapse, we follow a spatiotemporal timeline that begins at the initiation of exploratory contacts between the T cell and the antigen-presenting cell and ends with the termination of the contact. We focus on specific aspects that distinguish synapses established by cytotoxic and T helper cells as well as unresolved issues and controversies regarding the formation of this intercellular structure.
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