Biophysical and structural studies of TCRs and ligands: implications for T cell signaling

✍ Scribed by E Sally Ward; Ayub Qadri

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1997
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 937 KB
• Volume: 9
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0952-7915
• DOI: 10.1016/s0952-7915(97)80165-3

✦ Synopsis

The availability of soluble al3 TCRs and the individual chains has now made it possible to carry out structural studies of these molecules and analyze their molecular interactions with peptide-MHC ligands. Recent X-ray crystallographic structures of TCR a and 13 chains have finally established their structural similarity with the Ig molecules. Kinetic measurements of the interaction between TCRs and their ligands have provided strong evidence in favour of an affinity/avidity model for T cell activation in the periphery as well as during development in the thymus.