Abstract
Helper T cells recognize foreign antigen displayed on antigen-presenting cells which also express self-molecules of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC)1. A single T-cell receptor mediates recognition of both MHC and foreign antigen2,3. A proposed ternary complex between T-cell receptor, foreign antigen and MHC antigen has not yet been demonstrated (see ref. 1 for review). Here, we show that a fluorescein-labelled synthetic peptide, together with Texas red-labelled class II MHC antigen, I–Ad, stimulates the production of interleukin-2 by a peptide-specific I–Ad-restricted T-cell hybridoma when reconstituted in a lipid membrane on a glass substrate. Under the same conditions, reson-ance-energy transfer from donor peptide to acceptor I–A can be stimulated in an evanescent wave-field only in the presence of the specific T-hybrid. Our results show that the T cell stabilizes an association between peptide antigen and class II MHC protein to within a distance of about 40 Å.
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Watts, T., Gaub, H. & McConnell, H. T-cell-mediated association of peptide antigen and major histocompatibility complex protein detected by energy transfer in an evanescent wave-field. Nature 320, 179–181 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1038/320179a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/320179a0
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