Xiaolei Su, Ph.D., Eugene V. Weismann Fellow University of California, San Francisco

T cell receptors (TCRs) allow T cells to interact with other immune cells and identify and target cancer cells. Upon activation, these TCRs can form giant clusters with other proteins in T cells. The effects of this clustering are unknown though, so Dr. Su established a system that models the TCR signaling pathway to investigate them. He’s found that the clusters enhance the activity of certain enzymes, which promote both T cell activation and T cells’ interactions with tumor cells. These insights may lead to the development of therapies that trigger these clusters to improve the anti-tumor ability of T cells.

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