Abstract
Microvilli are actin-based microscopic membrane protrusions that are present in a wide variety of immune cells. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed that the T cell surface is covered by microvilli. Growing evidence shows that microvilli play important roles in T cell antigen detection and signal transduction. T cell microvilli are highly dynamic and constantly scan and palpate the opposing antigen-presenting cell (APC) surface in search of antigens. Visualizing the rapid movement of microvilli that are only hundreds of nanometers in size requires imaging technologies with high spatial and temporal resolution. Lattice light-sheet microscopy can achieve diffraction-limited resolution in all three dimensions with a temporal resolution of seconds, making it the perfect tool for studying dynamic events of microvilli during T cell antigen detection and activation. In this chapter, we describe a protocol for imaging localization and movement of T cell microvilli and surface receptors using lattice light-sheet microscopy.
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Acknowledgments
This protocol was developed by En Cai, Kyle Marchuk (UCSF), and Matthew F. Krummel (UCSF) and was supported by NIH Grant AI052116, the Cancer Research Institute Irvington/Robertson postdoctoral fellowship (to E.C.) and the Shurl and Kay Curci Foundation grant (to E.C.).
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Cai, E. (2023). Dynamics of Immune Cell Microvilli. In: Baldari, C.T., Dustin, M.L. (eds) The Immune Synapse. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 2654. Humana, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-3135-5_14
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-3135-5_14
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