Speaker: Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Schamel, Institute of Biology III (Molecular Immunology) and BIOSS Centre for Biological Signalling Studies, University of Freiburg
Date: Thursday, 11th of May 2017, 5:00 pm
Location: Campus FME, Hörsaal Kinderklinik (Haus 10)
Host: Prof. Dr. Burkhart Schraven (OvGU, Institut für Molekulare und Klinische Immunologie)
Further Information: The Schamel group uses biochemical and synthetic biology tools, in order to understand how the TCR transmits information across the plasma membrane. They could show that bivalent antigen-binding to the ectodomains of TCRαß induces a structural rearrangement at the cytoplasmic tails of CD3. This change is required for TCR activation and might expose these tails for interaction with cytoplasmic signalling proteins. Furthermore, they demonstrated that at least part of the TCRs are pre-clustered on the cell surface, and that this is involved in regulating the sensitivity of the T cell response. Currently, the group is rebuilding the pre-clustered TCRs in liposomes, in order to study the mechanisms of how these clusters form. Recently, they also started to employ systems biology approaches, to get a quantitative and dynamic understanding of the intracellular signalling network that is downstream of the TCR. Starting with the very upstream events, they discovered a novel mechanism with which T cells can discriminate between low and high affinity antigens.