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Updated: Jun 26, 2026
Super-resolution Imaging of the Natural Killer Cell Immunological Synapse on a Glass-supported Planar Lipid Bilayer
Published on: February 11, 2015
Live cell linear dichroism imaging reveals extensive membrane ruffling within the docking structure of natural killer
Insights
Natural killer (NK) cells form immune synapses with target cells, featuring peripheral membrane ruffles that disappear from the center as the synapse matures. This study visualizes NK cell membrane organization during immune synapse formation.
Area of Science:
- Immunology
- Cell Biology
- Biophysics
Background:
- The formation of the natural killer (NK) cell immune synapse (IS) is crucial for cytolytic activity.
- Understanding the dynamic organization of the NK cell plasma membrane during IS assembly is essential.
Discussion:
- Two-photon linear dichroism fluorescence imaging reveals subresolution membrane organization.
- NK cell membrane exhibits peripheral ruffling during early IS formation, which retracts from the center in mature synapses.
Key Insights:
- The NK cell membrane is not uniformly organized across the IS.
- Peripheral membrane ruffles are transient structures dynamic during IS maturation.
- Ruffling dynamics correlate with IS expansion and maturation.
Outlook:
- Further investigation into the functional role of these dynamic membrane ruffles in cytolytic synapse assembly is warranted.
- This imaging technique provides new insights into immune cell interactions at the nanoscale.
Abstract:
We have applied fluorescence imaging of two-photon linear dichroism to measure the subresolution organization of the cell membrane during formation of the activating (cytolytic) natural killer (NK) cell immune synapse (IS). This approach revealed that the NK cell plasma membrane is convoluted into ruffles at the periphery, but not in the center of a mature cytolytic NK cell IS. Time-lapse imaging showed that the membrane ruffles formed at the initial point of contact between NK cells and target cells and then spread radialy across the intercellular contact as the size of the IS increased, becoming absent from the center of the mature synapse. Understanding the role of such extensive membrane ruffling in the assembly of cytolytic synapses is an intriguing new goal.
