TCR-pMHC interactions initiate adaptive immune responses, but the mechanism of how such interactions under force induce T cell signaling is unclear. We show that force prolongs lifetimes of single ...TCR-pMHC bonds for agonists (catch bonds) but shortens those for antagonists (slip bonds). Both magnitude and duration of force are important, as the highest Ca(2+) responses were induced by 10 pN via both pMHC catch bonds whose lifetime peaks at this force and anti-TCR slip bonds whose maximum lifetime occurs at 0 pN. High Ca(2+) levels require early and rapid accumulation of bond lifetimes, whereas short-lived bonds that slow early accumulation of lifetimes correspond to low Ca(2+) responses. Our data support a model in which force on the TCR induces signaling events depending on its magnitude, duration, frequency, and timing, such that agonists form catch bonds that trigger the T cell digitally, whereas antagonists form slip bonds that fail to activate.
This issue of The Journal of Immunology features a collection of three Brief Reviews and a nomenclature topic piece on “Force in Immunology: There Is Often a Catch” (1–4).
T cell activation is a critical event in the adaptive immune response, indispensable for cell-mediated and humoral immunity as well as for immune regulation. Recent years have witnessed an emerging ...trend emphasizing the essential role that physical force and mechanical properties play at the T cell interface. In this review, we integrate current knowledge of T cell antigen recognition and the different models of T cell activation from the perspective of mechanobiology, focusing on the interaction between the T cell receptor (TCR) and the peptide-major histocompatibility complex (pMHC) antigen. We address the shortcomings of TCR affinity alone in explaining T cell functional outcomes and the rising status of force-regulated TCR bond lifetimes, most notably the TCR catch bond. Ultimately, T cell activation and the ensuing physiological responses result from mechanical interaction between TCRs and the pMHC.
TCRs recognize cognate pMHCs to initiate T cell signaling and adaptive immunity. Mechanical force strengthens TCR-pMHC interactions to elicit agonist-specific catch bonds to trigger TCR signaling, ...but the underlying dynamic structural mechanism is unclear. We combined steered molecular dynamics (SMD) simulation, single-molecule biophysical approaches, and functional assays to collectively demonstrate that mechanical force induces conformational changes in pMHCs to enhance pre-existing contacts and activates new interactions at the TCR-pMHC binding interface to resist bond dissociation under force, resulting in TCR-pMHC catch bonds and T cell activation. Intriguingly, cancer-associated somatic mutations in HLA-A2 that may restrict these conformational changes suppressed TCR-pMHC catch bonds. Structural analysis also indicated that HLA polymorphism might alter the equilibrium of these conformational changes. Our findings not only reveal critical roles of force-induced conformational changes in pMHCs for activating TCR-pMHC catch bonds but also have implications for T cell-based immunotherapy.
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•Force-enhanced peptide-TCR interactions determine TCR-pMHC-I catch bonds•Force-strengthened TCR-MHC binding interface contributes to TCR-pMHC-I catch bonds•Force-induced MHC-I rotation allosterically enhances TCR-pMHC-I catch bonds•Tumor-associated somatic mutations in HLA-A2 impair TCR-pHLA-A2 catch bonds
Wu et al. report that a dynamic structural mechanism of mechano-chemical coupling for TCR antigen recognition—that is, mechanical force-induced conformational changes in the agonist peptide-MHC-I—allosterically activates TCR-pMHC-I catch bonds to determine TCR antigen recognition and trigger T cell signaling.
A robust primary immune response has been correlated with the precursor number of antigen-specific T cells, as identified using peptide MHCII tetramers. However, these tetramers identify only the ...highest-affinity T cells. Here we show the entire CD4+ T-cell repertoire, inclusive of low-affinity T cells missed by tetramers, using a T-cell receptor (TCR) signalling reporter and micropipette assay to quantify naive precursors and expanded populations. In vivo limiting dilution assays reveal hundreds more precursor T cells than previously thought, with higher-affinity tetramer-positive T cells, comprising only 5-30% of the total antigen-specific naive repertoire. Lower-affinity T cells maintain their predominance as the primary immune response progresses, with no enhancement of survival of T cells with high-affinity TCRs. These findings demonstrate that affinity for antigen does not control CD4+ T-cell entry into the primary immune response, as a diverse range in affinity is maintained from precursor through peak of T-cell expansion.
The T cell antigen receptor (TCR) expressed on thymocytes interacts with self-peptide major histocompatibility complex (pMHC) ligands to signal apoptosis or survival. Here, we found that ...negative-selection ligands induced thymocytes to exert forces on the TCR and the co-receptor CD8 and formed cooperative TCR-pMHC-CD8 trimolecular 'catch bonds', whereas positive-selection ligands induced less sustained thymocyte forces on TCR and CD8 and formed shorter-lived, independent TCR-pMHC and pMHC-CD8 bimolecular 'slip bonds'. Catch bonds were not intrinsic to either the TCR-pMHC or the pMHC-CD8 arm of the trans (cross-junctional) heterodimer but resulted from coupling of the extracellular pMHC-CD8 interaction to the intracellular interaction of CD8 with TCR-CD3 via associated kinases to form a cis (lateral) heterodimer capable of inside-out signaling. We suggest that the coupled trans-cis heterodimeric interactions form a mechanotransduction loop that reinforces negative-selection signaling that is distinct from positive-selection signaling in the thymus.
TCR-signaling strength generally correlates with peptide-MHC binding affinity; however, exceptions exist. We find high-affinity, yet non-stimulatory, interactions occur with high frequency in the ...human T cell repertoire. Here, we studied human TCRs that are refractory to activation by pMHC ligands despite robust binding. Analysis of 3D affinity, 2D dwell time, and crystal structures of stimulatory versus non-stimulatory TCR-pMHC interactions failed to account for their different signaling outcomes. Using yeast pMHC display, we identified peptide agonists of a formerly non-responsive TCR. Single-molecule force measurements demonstrated the emergence of catch bonds in the activating TCR-pMHC interactions, correlating with exclusion of CD45 from the TCR-APC contact site. Molecular dynamics simulations of TCR-pMHC disengagement distinguished agonist from non-agonist ligands based on the acquisition of catch bonds within the TCR-pMHC interface. The isolation of catch bonds as a parameter mediating the coupling of TCR binding and signaling has important implications for TCR and antigen engineering for immunotherapy.
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•High-affinity but non-stimulatory T cell interactions occur in vivo•Non-stimulatory pMHC ligands lack catch bonds•Molecular dynamics reveals agonist/non-agonist interface chemistry•Mechanism for decoupling pMHC binding from T cell activation
While stimulatory and non-stimulatory ligands can bind to T cell receptors with similar affinity, only the stimulatory ligands form catch bonds, which strengthen during disengagement and couple binding to signaling.
We have recently shown that two-dimensional (2D) and force-regulated kinetics of TCR-peptide-bound MHC class I (pMHC-I) interactions predict responses of CD8(+) T cells. To test whether these ...findings are applicable to CD4(+) T cells, we analyzed the in situ 3.L2 TCR-pMHC-II interactions for a well-characterized panel of altered peptide ligands on the T cell surface using the adhesion frequency assay with a micropipette and the thermal fluctuation and force-clamp assays with a biomembrane force probe. We found that the 2D effective TCR-pMHC-II affinity and off-rate correlate with, but better predict the T cell response than, the corresponding measurements with the surface plasmon resonance in three dimensions. The 2D affinity of the CD4 for MHC-II was very low, approaching the detection limit, making it one to two orders of magnitude lower than the affinity of CD8 for MHC-I. In addition, the signal-dependent cooperation between TCR and coreceptor for pMHC binding previously observed for CD8 was not observed for CD4. Interestingly, force elicited TCR-pMHC-II catch-slip bonds for agonists but slip-only bonds for antagonists, thereby amplifying the power of discrimination between altered peptide ligands. These results show that the force-regulated 2D binding kinetics of the 3.L2 TCR for pMHC-II determine functions of CD4(+) T cells.
Adoptive cell therapy using engineered T cell receptors (TCRs) is a promising approach for targeting cancer antigens, but tumor-reactive TCRs are often weakly responsive to their target ligands, ...peptide-major histocompatibility complexes (pMHCs). Affinity-matured TCRs can enhance the efficacy of TCR-T cell therapy but can also cross-react with off-target antigens, resulting in organ immunopathology. We developed an alternative strategy to isolate TCR mutants that exhibited high activation signals coupled with low-affinity pMHC binding through the acquisition of catch bonds. Engineered analogs of a tumor antigen MAGE-A3-specific TCR maintained physiological affinities while exhibiting enhanced target killing potency and undetectable cross-reactivity, compared with a high-affinity clinically tested TCR that exhibited lethal cross-reactivity with a cardiac antigen. Catch bond engineering is a biophysically based strategy to tune high-sensitivity TCRs for T cell therapy with reduced potential for adverse cross-reactivity.
In response to infection, naïve CD4
T cells differentiate into two subpopulations: T follicular helper (T
) cells, which support B cell antibody production, and non-T
cells, which enhance innate ...immune cell functions. Interleukin-2 (IL-2), the major cytokine produced by naïve T cells, plays an important role in the developmental divergence of these populations. However, the relationship between IL-2 production and fate determination remains unclear. Using reporter mice, we found that differential production of IL-2 by naïve CD4
T cells defined precursors fated for different immune functions. IL-2 producers, which were fated to become T
cells, delivered IL-2 to nonproducers destined to become non-T
cells. Because IL-2 production was limited to cells receiving the strongest T cell receptor (TCR) signals, a direct link between TCR-signal strength, IL-2 production, and T cell fate determination has been established.
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