The Adapter Proteins LAT and SLP-76 Are Required for T-cell Activation

T lymphocytes (T cells) are a primary cellular constituent of the immune system that possess the capacity todirectly destroy cells infected with a pathogen and thatalso have a central role in stimulating and coordinatelyother components of the immune response. These T-cellfunctions are a consequence of T-cell receptor (TCR) engagement by pathogen-derived antigen expressed on thesurface of antigen-presenting cells. The interaction ofantigen with the TCR induces T-cell proliferation and differentiation and results in the conversion of T cells froman immunologically inert state to an active state. Thesefundamental changes in T-cell physiology, which can becollectively referred to as T-cell activation, are broughtabout through the action of multiple intracellular signaltransduction pathways that emanate from the antigen-engaged TCR. Our understanding of T cells, and thus theinitiation of an effective adaptive immune response, istherefore dependent on identifying and characterizingthese inducible signaling pathways...