The Immune Synapse
The immune synapse is the interaction between the T cell and the antigen presenting cell which dictates the activation of the T cell. In other words, the immune synapse is the immune code that tells a T cell to become toxic and to kill the infected tissue. Understanding the immune synapse is akin to understanding computer codes. Together, the peptide sequence and the T cell receptor (TCR) sequence are the key to the immune code, but the TCR-peptide interaction is transient and antigen presentation varies by the immune genetics of the individual, displayed in the context of an individual’s major histocompatibility complex (MHC) I and II.