Mechanical force has repeatedly been highlighted to be involved in T cell activation. However, the biological significance of mechanical force for T cell receptor signaling remains under active consideration. Here, guided by theoretical analysis, we provide a perspective on how mechanical forces between a T cell and an antigen-presenting cell can influence the bond of a single T cell receptor major histocompatibility complex during early T cell activation. We point out that the lifetime of T cell receptor bonds and thus the degree of their phosphorylation which is essential for T cell activation depends considerably on the T cell receptor rigidity and the average magnitude and frequency of an applied oscillatory force. Such forces could be, for example, produced by protrusions like microvilli during early T cell activation or invadosomes during full T cell activation. These features are suggestive of mechanical force being exploited by T cells to advance self–nonself discrimination in early T cell activation.

中文翻译：

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机械力在早期 T 细胞激活中很重要


机械力已多次被强调参与 T 细胞激活。然而，机械力对于 T 细胞受体信号传导的生物学意义仍在积极考虑中。在这里，在理论分析的指导下，我们提供了关于 T 细胞和抗原呈递细胞之间的机械力如何影响早期 T 细胞激活过程中单个 T 细胞受体主要组织相容性复合物的结合的观点。我们指出，T 细胞受体键的寿命以及 T 细胞激活所必需的磷酸化程度在很大程度上取决于 T 细胞受体的刚性以及所施加振荡力的平均大小和频率。例如，这种力可能是由早期 T 细胞激活过程中的微绒毛等突出物或完全 T 细胞激活过程中的侵袭体产生的。这些特征表明 T 细胞利用机械力来促进早期 T 细胞激活中的自我-非自我辨别。