HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Zhang, X. Articles by Moy, V. T. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Zhang, X. Articles by Moy, V. T.

---

ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE

Dynamic Adhesion of T Lymphocytes to Endothelial Cells Revealed by Atomic Force Microscopy

Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of Miami School of Medicine, Miami, Florida 33136

To whom requests for reprints should be addressed at ¹ Dr. Xiaohui Zhang, The CBR Institute for Biomedical Research, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115. E-mail: xzhang{at}cbr.med.harvard.edu; or Dr. Vincent T. Moy, Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of Miami School of Medicine, 1600 NW 10th Avenue, Miami, Florida 33136. E-mail: vmoy{at}miami.edu

The recruitment of T lymphocytes to lymphoid organs or sites of inflammation is a crucial step in adaptive immunity. These processes require endothelial activation and expression of adhesion molecules, including E- and P-selectins, intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1), and vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1). However, the complete characterization of the adhesion strength and dynamics between lymphocytes and endothelial cells has been hampered by the lack of sensitive quantitative techniques. Here we report on the application of atomic force microscopy to characterize the interaction between individual pairs of living T lymphocytes (i.e., Jurkat cells) and human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). The detachment of individual cell–cell conjugates was a complex process involving several step-like rupture events and the viscoelastic deformation of cells on the scale of several microns. Adhesion between Jurkat cells and activated endothelial cells increased with compression force and contact time, with the most dramatic changes occurring within the first half second of contact. After 0.25 sec of contact, E-selectin, ICAM-1, and VCAM-1 contributed to 18%, 39%, and 41% of total adhesion strength, respectively, suggesting that ICAM-1 and VCAM-1 contributed more than the selectins in supporting cell attachment.

Key Words: T lymphocyte • vascular endothelial cell • atomic force microscopy • cell adhesion

This article has been cited by other articles:

				J. Helenius, C.-P. Heisenberg, H. E. Gaub, and D. J. Muller Single-cell force spectroscopy J. Cell Sci., June 1, 2008; 121(11): 1785 - 1791. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]