Development of a screening strategy for new modulators of T cell receptor signaling and T cell activation

Abstract Activation of the T cell receptor (TCR) leads to the generation of a network of signaling events critical to the developmental decision making and activation of T cells. Various experimental approaches continue to identify new signaling molecules, adaptor proteins, and other regulators of T...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Elijah W. Chen, Joanna Brzostek, Nicholas R. J. Gascoigne, Vasily Rybakin
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Publishing Group 2018-07-01
Series:Scientific Reports
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-28106-5
Description
Summary:Abstract Activation of the T cell receptor (TCR) leads to the generation of a network of signaling events critical to the developmental decision making and activation of T cells. Various experimental approaches continue to identify new signaling molecules, adaptor proteins, and other regulators of TCR signaling. We propose a screening strategy for the identification of small molecules affecting TCR signaling based on the uncoupling of TCR stimulation from cellular responses in developing thymocytes. We demonstrate that this strategy successfully identifies inhibitors of kinases already shown to act downstream of TCR engagement, as well as new inhibitors. The proposed strategy is easily scalable for high throughput screening and will contribute to the identification of new druggable targets in T cell activation.
ISSN:2045-2322