T cell recognition of antigen and resulting proximal signaling are key steps in the initiation of the adaptive immune response. The T cell receptor interaction with antigen drives signal initiation in an affinity-dependent manner, but many aspects of this process remain incompletely understood, including what regions are responsible for structural changes in the TCR upon antigen binding, the importance of extracellular T cell receptor interactions with CD3, how structural changes are integrated with signaling components, and the role of force in signal transduction. Advances in structural modeling of the TCR–CD3 complex and the ability to quantify the affinity and biophysical nature of these molecular interactions have significantly furthered our understanding of the mechanism of transduction of T cell antigen recognition into intracellular signaling. This knowledge is paramount to understanding how T cell perform their critical role in adaptive immune responses, and for the development and improvement of immunotherapies.

抗原的T细胞识别和所产生的近端信号传导是适应性免疫应答启动的关键步骤。T细胞受体与抗原的相互作用以亲和力依赖的方式驱动信号的启动，但是该过程的许多方面仍未完全了解，包括抗原结合后负责TCR结构变化的区域是什么，细胞外T细胞受体相互作用的重要性使用CD3，如何将结构变化与信号成分整合在一起，以及力在信号传导中的作用。TCR–CD3复合物的结构建模以及量化这些分子相互作用的亲和力和生物物理性质的能力的进步，极大地加深了我们对T细胞抗原识别转导至细胞内信号传导机制的理解。该知识对于理解T细胞如何在适应性免疫反应中以及如何发展和改善免疫疗法中发挥关键作用至关重要。