Role of actin cytoskeleton at multiple levels of T cell activation

Abstract

Actin cytoskeleton is an essential cellular structure that is involved in many physiological aspects, including T cell antigenic responses. In has been proposed that actin modulates biophysical parameters of the antigen recognition, forms a barrier inhibiting spontaneous signaling in resting T cells, facilitates TCR signal transduction, stabilizes contacts between T cells and antigen presenting cells, and contributes to the establishment of the antigen affinity threshold. In this review, we discuss the role of actin cytoskeleton at these particular levels of T cell activation.

Keywords

• T cell
• actin
• cytoskeleton
• TCR
• signal transduction
• antigen recognition
• antigen affinity threshold
• immunological synapse