Studying Immunoreceptor Signaling in Human T Cells Using Electroporation of In Vitro Transcribed mRNA

The recognition bestowed upon T lymphocytes as key mediators of cellular immunity has been further attested by recent successful clinical studies using genetically modified T cells. With an ever-growing interest in the application of T cells to treat human malignancies, studying the molecular mechanisms of T cell activation, signaling, and function has become imperative. This, therefore, calls for the development of new easy-to-use and accurate models to investigate the biological phenomena that begin at the synaptic levels of T cell and antigen interactions to the ultimate exhaustion and death of the T cell. Here, we describe an approach to transiently express a chimeric molecule on the cell surface that permits activation and expansion of T cells, thereby providing a model to study T cell signaling.