title: Live imaging of dendritic cell-Treg cell interactions.
abstract: The decision to launch an immune response is made during the interaction of helper T cells and regulatory T cells with dendritic cells. Recognition of antigen leads to formation of immunological synapses at the interface between the cells and to activation of the T cells. The length of interaction between the T cells and dendritic cells influences the functional outcome. We have shown that in the absence of proinflammatory stimuli, regulatory T cells and naive helper T cells interact differently with dendritic cells. Neuropilin-1, which is expressed by most regulatory T cells but not naive helper T cells, promotes prolonged interactions with immature dendritic cells, resulting in higher sensitivity to limiting amounts of antigen. We tracked T cell-dendritic cell interactions in real-time using time-lapse microscopy, assessed synapse formation by immunofluorescence, and measured regulatory T cell activation by dendritic cells using suppression assays.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Medical Research Council, Cambridge, UK.
authors.forename: Milka
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sarris
authors.forename: Alexander G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Betz
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003713:Dendritic Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism*; D051379:Mice; D018613:Microscopy, Confocal / Q000379:methods*; D050378:T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism*