Questions from Last Time:

1. What does the interaction time between a T Cell and an APC look like for T Cells that bind the antigen the cell is presenting as opposed to those that do not bind?
http://www.bloodjournal.org/content/104/9/2801?sso-checked=true varies considerably in duration and kinetics for t-cell and APCs...
, we found that B cells required contact to T cells for up to 60 hours to fully activate naive T cells (Figure 3A). In contrast, T cells became independent of further antigen presentation after 2 to 6 hours of contact to DC (dendritic cells) 
1a. How long does it take the T Cell to kill the APC if it is a match?
2. What kinds of chemicals go back and forth between the T Cell and the APC during this process and how are they released (transcriptional response/some other signaling cascade)?
      - Cytotoxic T Cells Release perforin and granzymes.  Perforin makes holes in cell membrane through which the other proteins can enter, granzymes trigger caspase cascade resulting in apoptosis
      - Perforin and granzymes are stored in small cytoplasmic granules that can be released from a small region of the cell membrane by exocytosis. (immunological synapse)
      - (semi-related)  It takes roughly 50 TCR-MHC pairings to activate the T Cell -> implies that MHC molecules could be close enough for some kind of interaction between fusion proteins
      - Vesicles in Helper T Cells store lymphokines that stimulate further immune response when released
3. What kinds of chemicals are released by the Tregs to suppress Teffs?
      - It has been reported that Foxp3+ Treg cells exert suppression by cell contact–dependent mechanisms (for example, functional modulation by means of CD39, CD73 and LAG-3 
      - IL-10, IL-9, adenosine
      - TGFβ
      - Granzyme B?
      - CTLA-4 (protein receptor on surface) http://www.nature.com/ni/journal/v11/n1/fig_tab/ni.1818_F2.html (highly expressed narturally; suppression directly leads to autoimmune disorder)
      - Galectin 1, 10 ?
      - FoxP3 is transcription factor centrally responsible for Treg function: absence of it leads to IPEX (immunodysregulation polyendocrinopathy enteropathy X-linked syndrome) (a fancy way of saying your body will attack itself on all fronts and life will absolutely suck)
      - "It is thus likely that several mechanisms or modes of suppression may operate synergistically and in a complementary manner and that each mechanism contributes to suppression to a particular extent and under a certain condition. " 
4. How can we modify MHC (or other APC surface protein) to release the chemicals normally released by Tregs when a Teff successfully binds MHC?
      - Link to kit for synthetic regulated secretion pathway - http://www.ariad.com/pdf/Reg_Secretion-Aggregation.pdf
Other New, Relevant Information:
      -Engineering the pathway that leads to secretion of the appropriate chemicals by Tregs seems like it could be a pain in the ___.  Maybe it would be more feasible to engineer Tregs to express endocytotic behavior/MHC and somehow work it so that their TCRs are stimulated when MHC is bound that way the original exocytotic pathway can be preserved
            - This could also be a good idea because the exact molecular nature of Treg-mediated suppression is not particularly well characterized
      - MHC Class I presents peptides from proteins produced by the cell (viral or self) whereas MHC Class II presents endocytosed antigens,  If we plan to engineer the production of MHC into a cell that typically does not produce it, we'll probably want both for the most adaptability
  •      gamma delta t-cells not MHC reliant, recognize whole proteins; human cells recognize non-petidic antigens like HMB-PP, an essential metabolite in pathogenic bacteria that's absent from human host... dope.... maybe has applications for our project?? 

Just a pretty picture I found ...

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