Human CD8+ T cells exhibit a shared antigen threshold for different effector responses

T cells recognising cognate pMHC antigens become activated to elicit a myriad of cellular responses, such as target cell killing and the secretion of different cytokines, that collectively contribute to adaptive immunity. These effector responses have been hypothesised to exhibit different antigen dose and affinity thresholds, suggesting that pathogen-specific information may be encoded within the nature of the antigen. Here, using systematic experiments in a reductionist system, where primary human CD8+ T cell blasts are stimulated by recombinant pMHC antigen alone, we show that different inflammatory cytokines have comparable antigen dose thresholds across a 25,000-fold variation in affinity. Although co-stimulation by CD28, CD2, and CD27 increased cytokine production in this system, the antigen threshold remained comparable across different cytokines. When using primary human memory CD8+ T cells responding to autologous antigen presenting cells equivalent thresholds were also observed for cytokine production and killing. These findings imply a simple phenotypic model of TCR signalling where multiple T cell responses share a common rate-limiting threshold and a conceptually simple model of antigen recognition, where the chance factor of antigen dose and affinity do not provide any additional response-specific information.

Facile synthesis and exploration of excited state assisted two-photon absorption properties of D–A–D type thiophene–pyridine derivatives

Diagrammatic representation of excited state assisted two-photon absorption (2PA) behavior of a donor–acceptor type conjugated polymer (P2TPy) exhibiting an extremely low optical limiting threshold.

Green Synthesized Plasmonic Silver Systems for Potential Non-Linear Optical Applications: Optical Limiting and Dual Beam Mode Matched Thermal Lensing

Bioactive compound functionalized plasmonic systems are evolving as a promising branch of nanotechnology. In this communication the synthesis of bioactive compound mimosine-based silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) and their non-linear optical and thermo-optic properties are presented. UV-Visible spectroscopy, optical bandgap measurement, fluorescence spectroscopy, and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) techniques were used to characterize the synthesized AgNPs. An open aperture z-scan technique was used to determine the non-linear optical parameters. A very strong reverse saturable absorption (RSA) and low optical limiting threshold were observed for the present mimosine decorated AgNP system. The thermo-optic property of the present system was evaluated using a highly sensitive dual beam mode matched thermal lensing spectroscopic technique. A comparison of the low limiting threshold (242MWcm−2) and thermo-optic property (thermal diffusivity, D=1.13×10−7m2s−1) with similar systems proves its capability for non-linear optical and thermo-optic applications.