Nature Immunology3, 1082 - 1089 (2002)
Published online: 21 October 2002; | doi:10.1038/ni848
Sustained and dynamic inositol lipid metabolism inside and outside the immunological synapse
Patrick S. Costello, Maighread Gallagher
& Doreen A. Cantrell
Lymphocyte Activation Laboratory, Cancer Research UK London Research Institute, Lincoln's Inn Fields Laboratories, 44 Lincoln's Inn Fields, London WC2A 3PX, UK.
T cell activation is triggered by several hours of contact with peptide−major histocompatibility (MHC) complexes on the surface of antigen-presenting cells (APCs). The nature and location of the sustained signal transduction pathways required for T cell activation are unknown. We show here that the production of phosphatidylinositol(3,4,5)triphosphate (PIP3) was dynamically sustained for hours as T cells responded to antigen. In addition, sustained elevation of PIP3 was essential for T cell proliferation. There was PIP3 accumulation in the T cell−APC contact zone and at the antipodal pole of the cell. The immune synapse is thus not the sole site of sustained signal transduction in activated T cells.
