Signal transduction by the TCR for antigen

The past several years have seen the beginning of a shift in the way that T CR signal transduction is studied. Although many investigators continue to identify new molecules, particularly adaptor proteins, others have attempte d to look at signaling events in a larger cellular context. Thus the identi fication of distinct formations of signaling molecules at junctions between T cells and antigen-presenting cells, the role of the cytoskeleton and the partitioning of molecules into specialized lipid subdomains have been the subjects of many publications. Such concepts are helping to assemble a blue print of how the myriad adaptors and kinases fit together to effect T cell activation.