Institut Curie, PSL Research University, INSERM U932, Paris, France; Université de Paris, Paris, France
Léa Pinon
Institut Curie, PSL Research University, INSERM U932, Paris, France; Laboratoire P.A.S.T.E.U.R., Département de Chimie, École Normale Supérieure, PSL Research University, Sorbonne Université, CNRS, Paris, France; Institut Pierre-Gilles de Gennes pour la Microfluidique, Paris, France
Olivier Mesdjian
Laboratoire P.A.S.T.E.U.R., Département de Chimie, École Normale Supérieure, PSL Research University, Sorbonne Université, CNRS, Paris, France; Institut Pierre-Gilles de Gennes pour la Microfluidique, Paris, France
Jacques Fattaccioli
Laboratoire P.A.S.T.E.U.R., Département de Chimie, École Normale Supérieure, PSL Research University, Sorbonne Université, CNRS, Paris, France; Institut Pierre-Gilles de Gennes pour la Microfluidique, Paris, France
Ana-Maria Lennon Duménil
Institut Curie, PSL Research University, INSERM U932, Paris, France
Immune synapse formation is a key step for lymphocyte activation. In B lymphocytes, the immune synapse controls the production of high-affinity antibodies, thereby defining the efficiency of humoral immune responses. While the key roles played by both the actin and microtubule cytoskeletons in the formation and function of the immune synapse have become increasingly clear, how the different events involved in synapse formation are coordinated in space and time by actin–microtubule interactions is not understood. Using a microfluidic pairing device, we studied with unprecedented resolution the dynamics of the various events leading to immune synapse formation and maintenance in murine B cells. Our results identify two groups of events, local and global, dominated by actin and microtubules dynamics, respectively. They further highlight an unexpected role for microtubules and the GEF-H1-RhoA axis in restricting F-actin polymerization at the lymphocyte–antigen contact site, thereby allowing the formation and maintenance of a unique competent immune synapse.
