Cooperative enhancement of specificity in a lattice of T cell receptors.

Journal Article (Journal Article)

Two of the most important models to account for the specificity and sensitivity of the T cell receptor (TCR) are the kinetic proofreading and serial ligation models. However, although kinetic proofreading provides a means for individual TCRs to measure accurately the length of time they are engaged and signal appropriately, the stochastic nature of ligand dissociation means the kinetic proofreading model implies that at high concentrations the response of the cell will be relatively nonspecific. Recent ligand experiments have revealed the phenomenon of both negative and positive crosstalk among neighboring TCRs. By using a Monte Carlo simulation of a lattice of TCRs, we integrate receptor crosstalk with the kinetic proofreading and serial ligation models and discover that receptor cooperativity can enhance T cell specificity significantly at a very modest cost to the sensitivity of the response.

Full Text

Duke Authors

Cited Authors

  • Chan, C; George, AJ; Stark, J

Published Date

  • May 8, 2001

Published In

Volume / Issue

  • 98 / 10

Start / End Page

  • 5758 - 5763

PubMed ID

  • 11344310

Pubmed Central ID

  • PMC33286

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

  • 0027-8424

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

  • 10.1073/pnas.101113698

Language

  • eng

Conference Location

  • United States