Cutting edge: Membrane nanotubes connect immune cells

B Önfelt, S Nedvetzki, K Yanagi… - The Journal of …, 2004 - journals.aai.org
B Önfelt, S Nedvetzki, K Yanagi, DM Davis
The Journal of Immunology, 2004journals.aai.org
We present evidence that nanotubular highways, or membrane nanotubes, facilitate a novel
mechanism for intercellular communication in the immune system. Nanotubes were seen to
connect multiple cells together and were readily formed between a variety of cell types,
including human peripheral blood NK cells, macrophages, and EBV-transformed B cells.
Nanotubes could be created upon disassembly of the immunological synapse, as cells
move apart. Thus, nanotubular networks could be assembled from transient immunological …
Abstract
We present evidence that nanotubular highways, or membrane nanotubes, facilitate a novel mechanism for intercellular communication in the immune system. Nanotubes were seen to connect multiple cells together and were readily formed between a variety of cell types, including human peripheral blood NK cells, macrophages, and EBV-transformed B cells. Nanotubes could be created upon disassembly of the immunological synapse, as cells move apart. Thus, nanotubular networks could be assembled from transient immunological synapses. Nanotubes were seen to contain GFP-tagged cell surface class I MHC protein expressed in one of the connected cells. Moreover, GPI-conjugated to GFP originating from one cell was transferred onto the surface of another at the connection with a nanotube. Thus, nanotubes can traffic cell surface proteins between immune cells over many tens of microns. Determining whether there are physiological functions for nanotubes is an intriguing new goal for cellular immunology.
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