Geometrically Controlled Asymmetric Division of CD4+ T Cells Studied by Immunological Synapse Arrays

Similar to stem cells, naïve T cells undergo asymmetric division following activation. While asymmetric division of T cells has been shown to be an important mechanism for the generation of lymphocyte fate diversity during immune responses, key factors that influence whether T cells will undergo symmetric or asymmetric divisions are not completely understood. Here, we utilized immunological synapse arrays (ISAs) to begin to dissect mechanisms of asymmetric T lymphocyte division. ISAs are protein micropatterned surfaces composed of two segregated regions, activation sites and adhesion fields. Activation sites are small spots presenting activation signals such as anti-CD3 and anti-CD28, and adhesion fields are the remaining regions surrounding activation sites immobilized with interintercel adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM-1). By varying the size and the distance between the activation sites and measuring the incidence of asymmetric cell divisions, we found that the distance between activation sites is an important regulator of asymmetric division. Further analysis revealed that more symmetric divisions occurred when two nascent daughter cells stably interacted with two distinct activation sites throughout and following cytokinesis. In contrast, more asymmetric divisions occurred when only one daughter cell remained anchored on an activation site while the other daughter became motile and moved away following cytokinesis. Together, these results indicate that TCR signaling events during cytokinesis may repolarize key molecules for asymmetric partitioning, suggesting the possibility that the density of antigen presenting cells that interact with T cells as they undergo cytokinesis may be a critical factor regulating asymmetric division in T cells.