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Updated: Jun 29, 2025

A TIRF Microscopy Technique for Real-time, Simultaneous Imaging of the TCR and its Associated Signaling Proteins
Published on: March 22, 2012
Increased vesicular dynamics and nanoscale clustering of IL-2 after T cell activation
Badeia Saed1, Neal T Ramseier1, Thilini Perera1
1Department of Chemistry, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of Illinois Chicago, Chicago, Illinois.
Abstract:
T cells coordinate intercellular communication through the meticulous regulation of cytokine secretion. Direct visualization of vesicular transport and intracellular distribution of cytokines provides valuable insights into the temporal and spatial mechanisms involved in regulation. Employing Jurkat E6-1 T cells and interleukin-2 (IL-2) as a model system, we investigated vesicular dynamics using single-particle tracking and the nanoscale distribution of intracellular IL-2 in fixed T cells using superresolution microscopy. Live-cell imaging revealed that in vitro activation resulted in increased vesicular dynamics. Direct stochastic optical reconstruction microscopy and 3D structured illumination microscopy revealed nanoscale clustering of IL-2. In vitro activation correlated with spatial accumulation of IL-2 nanoclusters into more pronounced and elongated clusters. These observations provide visual evidence that accelerated vesicular transport and spatial concatenation of IL-2 clusters at the nanoscale may constitute a potential mechanism for modulating cytokine release by Jurkat T cells.
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