T cell receptors

The First Structures of T Cell Receptors

Chemokine receptors and T cell chemotaxis

T he migration of T cells is a highly regulated process, serving to distribute functional subsets of cells to the appropriate tissue or microenvironment. The role of adhesion molecules in this process is well appreciated (1, 2) however an additional class of molecules, the chemoattrac-tant cytokines (chemokines) and their receptors, are now receiving considerable attention, because of their fun...

Molecular nature of T-cell receptors.

The immune system is crucially involved in a number of diseascs including microbial infections, allergies, cancer, rheumatism, autoimmunity and degenerative disorders of ageing. While the Tlymphocytes play a key role in the body’s immune defence mechanism, they also act to reject grafted or transplanted tissues. The T-cells comprise only about half the population of lymphocytes; the other half,...

Inhibitory Receptors Beyond T Cell Exhaustion

Inhibitory receptors (iRs) are frequently associated with "T cell exhaustion". However, the expression of iRs is also dependent on T cell differentiation and activation. Therapeutic blockade of various iRs, also referred to as "checkpoint blockade", is showing -unprecedented results in the treatment of cancer patients. Consequently, the clinical potential in this field is broad, calling for inc...

T-cell receptors: Feeling out the complex

Recent crystallographic studies show that the T-cell receptor has a largely immunoglobulin-like structure and binds to MHC-peptide complexes through loops from paired Valpha and Vbeta domains that focus on the central amino acids of the MHC-bound peptide, and to bacterial superantigens via peripheral aspects of the Vbeta domain.