Fidelity of T Cell Activation Through Multistep T Cell Receptor ζ Phosphorylation

作者：Ellen Neumeister Kersh, Andréy S. Shaw, Paul M. Allen · 发表于：Science · 年份：1998 · DOI：10.1126/science.281.5376.572 · 被引用次数：349 · 研究领域：Monoclonal and Polyclonal Antibodies Research、T-cell and B-cell Immunology、Cell Adhesion Molecules Research

The T cell receptor (TCR) alphabeta heterodimer interacts with its ligands with high specificity, but surprisingly low affinity. The role of the zeta component of the murine TCR in contributing to the fidelity of antigen recognition was examined. With sequence-specific phosphotyrosine antibodies, it was found that zeta undergoes a series of ordered phosphorylation events upon TCR engagement. Completion of phosphorylation steps is dependent on the nature of the TCR ligand. Thus, the phosphorylation steps establish thresholds for T cell activation. This study documents the sophisticated molecular events that follow the engagement of a low-affinity receptor.