Dlg1 (green) is at the immune synapse within 5 min of T cell activation (top), but leaves by 20 min (bottom).

A scaffolding protein at neuronal synapses has found its way to another kind of synapse—the immune synapse, which forms at the interface between antigen presenting cells and T cells. As shown by Xavier et al. on page 173, this multidomain protein, called Dlg1, tempers the activity of both types of synapses.

On the T cell side of the immune synapse, activated T cell antigen receptors (TCRs) congregate with many cytoskeletal and signaling molecules that spread the word of antigen recognition to the rest of the cell. Recognition of TCR engagement must be transmitted somehow to these other proteins to coordinate their synaptic congregation.

Based on its multidomain structure and role as a scaffold in neuronal synapses and epithelial junctions, Dlg1 seemed a likely...

The Rockefeller University Press
2004
The Rockefeller University Press
2004
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