Excluding CD148 (red) from the synapse (green) keeps immune responses going.
The immune responses mounted when T cell receptors (TCRs) are engaged by antigens are initiated by tyrosine kinases and lead to cytokine production and T cell proliferation. One protein that is up-regulated in T cells during immune responses is CD148, a large transmembrane tyrosine phosphatase. CD148 has been shown to inhibit immune responses elicited when TCRs are stimulated with soluble anti-TCR antibodies. But Lin and Weiss now show that this down-regulation is normally delayed by the architecture of T cell contacts with antigen-presenting cells (APCs).
In the more biologically relevant context of B cells used as APCs, CD148 is still up-regulated after antigen presentation. But the...
