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The receptor deformation model of TCR triggering

Zhengyu Ma^*,1, Paul A. Janmey and Terri H. Finkel^*,1

^* Department of Pediatrics, The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA;

Department of Bioengineering, Institute for Medicine and Engineering, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

¹Correspondence: Z.M., 1104G Abramson Research Bldg., 3516 Civic Center Blvd., Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA. E-mail: maz{at}email.chop.edu; T.H.F., 1104F Abramson Research Bldg., 3516 Civic Center Blvd., Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA. E-mail: finkelt{at}email.chop.edu

Through T cell receptors (TCRs), T cells can detect and respond to very small numbers of foreign peptides among a huge number of self-peptides presented by major histocompatibility complexes (pMHCs) on the surface of antigen-presenting cells (APCs). How T cells achieve such remarkable sensitivity and specificity through pMHC-TCR binding is an intensively pursued issue in immunology today; the key question is how pMHC-TCR binding initiates, or triggers, a signal from TCRs. Multiple competing models have been proposed, none of which fully explains the sensitivity and specificity of TCR triggering. What has been omitted from existing theories is that the pMHC-TCR interaction at the T cell/APC interface must be under constant mechanical stress, due to the dynamic nature of cell-cell interaction. Taking this condition into consideration, we propose the receptor deformation model of TCR triggering. In this model, TCR signaling is initiated by conformational changes of the TCR/CD3 complex, induced by a pulling force originating from the cytoskeleton and transmitted through pMHC-TCR binding interactions with enough strength to resist rupture. By introducing mechanical force into a model of T cell signal initiation, the receptor deformation model provides potential mechanistic solutions to the sensitivity and specificity of TCR triggering.—Ma, Z., Janmey, P. A., Finkel, T. H. The receptor deformation model of TCR triggering.

Key Words: T cell receptor • signaling • TCR signal initiation • cytoskeleton • mechanical force

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