Antigen Receptor Signaling Pathways Are Regulated by a Balanced Equilibrium

Essay

Antigen receptor signaling pathways are regulated by a balanced equilibrium between tyrosine kinases and tyrosine phosphatases. In general, activation of signaling proceeds when the kinase activities leading to auto-phosphorylation of Lck, to phosphorylation of ZAP-70, and to phosphorylation of downstream adapters and scaffolds exceeds the activity of phosphatases acting on these substrates. Therefore, it came as a surprise when T cells lacking the membrane tyrosine phosphatase, CD45, were first generated, and were found to be unable to be activated by TCR stimulation. Name one important function of CD45 in T cells that explains the requirement for this phosphatase in TCR signaling.