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Class I MHC molecules as probes of membrane patchiness: from biophysical measurements to modulation of immune responses

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Abstract

Here I summarize decades of work using the biophysics of class I MHC molecules to probe the patchiness and heterogeneity of cell surfaces. This program began as a study of membranes generally. MHC molecules were a convenient probe. However, in recent years, it has become clear that the lateral distribution, clustering, of class I MHC molecules in the membrane affects their recognition by effector CTL. This offers the possibility of enhancing or reducing T-cell recognition of targets by altering the clustering of their membrane proteins.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by NIH grant AI14584 to ME. My work in fluorescence microscopy was stimulated by the late Albert Coons, inventor of immunofluorescence and by a close colleague and friend, the late John Cebra. I am grateful to have been associated with them. I am also grateful to the many students and postdoctoral fellows who were involved in these experiments and to my longtime collaborators Martha Zuñiga and Michael Sheetz.

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  1. Department of Biology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, 21218, USA

    Michael Edidin

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  1. Michael Edidin
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Correspondence to Michael Edidin.

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Edidin, M. Class I MHC molecules as probes of membrane patchiness: from biophysical measurements to modulation of immune responses. Immunol Res 47, 265–272 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12026-009-8159-9

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