To maintain homeostasis, all cells respond to environmental cues via a multitude of surface receptors. In order to act appropriately in their environment, cells are dependent on the transduction of the incoming signal through tightly regulated and interconnected signalling pathways to the cell nucleus. In particular, cells implicated in the immune system greatly depend on such systems to respond in a flexible and dynamic manner to environmental challenges. One major group of intracellular proteins that are involved in these signalling pathways are adaptor proteins. Although adaptor proteins are essential for normal immune cell operation, the functional role of this group of signalling proteins remains to be fully appreciated. So far, research on adaptor proteins has revealed their unique potential in building transient complexes in a reversible, dynamic and inducible manner. In this review, we explore the roles of adaptor proteins – in space and time of intracellular signalling – and their associations with human disease. Examples of adaptor proteins expressed in hematopoietic cells highlight their crucial role in the immune system. Lastly, we present challenges faced in elucidating roles of adaptor proteins, as illustrated by the T cell–specific adaptor (TSAd) protein encoded by the SH2D2A gene.

中文翻译：

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衔接蛋白：免疫细胞信号传导的灵活动态调节剂。

为了维持体内平衡，所有细胞都通过多种表面受体对环境线索做出反应。为了在其环境中适当发挥作用，细胞依赖于进入信号的转导，这些信号是通过紧密调节和相互连接的信号通路到达细胞核的。特别地，涉及免疫系统的细胞极大地依赖于这种系统以灵活和动态的方式对环境挑战作出反应。这些信号传导途径中涉及的一大类细胞内蛋白是衔接蛋白。尽管衔接子蛋白对于正常的免疫细胞操作是必不可少的，但是这组信号蛋白的功能作用仍有待充分认识。到目前为止，对衔接蛋白的研究表明它们在以可逆，动态和可诱导的方式。在这篇综述中，我们探讨了衔接蛋白在细胞内信号传递的空间和时间中的作用及其与人类疾病的关系。在造血细胞中表达的衔接蛋白的例子突出了它们在免疫系统中的关键作用。最后，我们提出了阐明衔接子蛋白的作用时所面临的挑战，如由T细胞编码的T细胞特异性衔接子（TSAd）蛋白所说明的那样。SH2D2A基因。