Spinophilin and the immune synapse

Extensive alterations in cellular organization are known to accompany the responses of sensitized T cells to target cells presenting an antigen of interest. Now, equally if not more dramatic changes are found to take place in cells presenting an antigen. With the help of a spinophilin-GFP fusion protein, Bloom et al. (Bloom, O.,J.J. Unternaehrer, A. Jiang, J.-S. Shin, L. Delamarre, P. Allen, and I. Mellman. 2008. J. Cell Biol. 181: 203-211) have captured a remarkable polarization of the cellular architecture of dendritic cells presenting an antigen to T cells.