T CELLS UNDERGO ASYMMETRIC CELL DIVISION – A NEW MECHANISM TO DICTATE T CELL FATE (84.5)
We have previously shown that T cells utilize an evolutionarily conserved network of polarity proteins to orchestrate cell shape and polarity, and that these proteins are required for migration and immunological synapse formation in T cells (1). We describe here in vitro evidence using the OT-1 model system that T cells utilize this polarity network to conduct a physiological process not previously ascribed to lymphocytes, that of asymmetric cell division. We demonstrate that naive T cells remain attached to antigen presenting cells (dendritic cells pulsed with ovalbumin peptide) throughout cell division, and utilize this attachment to orient their axis of cell division. By maintaining the asymmetry originally associated with immunological synapse formation, the daughters of the T cell division inherit different molecular characteristics, which provide the capacity to dictate different subsequent fates. A network of PDZ-containing proteins regulates T cell polarity and morphology in motility and immunological synapse formation