Protein bombs and liquid adhesions in immune cell mediated killing in cancer and infection
T cells and NK cells kill cells by forming an immunological synapse into which cytotoxic proteins are released. Professor Dustin will discuss recent work on ~100 nm supramolecular attack particles, which act like protein bombs that coordinate innate target recognition and cytotoxic protein delivery (Balint et al, Science 2020). The immunological synapse is built around F-actin coupled integrin mediated adhesion combined with free flowing liquid adhesions mediated by CD2 and CD58 interaction that organize TCR signaling, costimulation and checkpoints (Demetriou et al, Nat Immunol 2020). These studies raised many questions and the talk will provide updates on a number of relevant issues in the context of cancer and infection.