Rapid up-regulation and granule-independent transport of perforin to the immunological synapse define a novel mechanism of antigen-specific CD8+ T cell cytotoxic activity.
CTL are endowed with the ability to eliminate pathogens through perforin-mediated cytotoxic activity. The mechanism for perforin-mediated Ag-specific killing has been solely attributed to cytotoxic granule exocytosis from activated CD8(+) T cells. In this study, we redefine this mechanism, demonstrating that virus-specific CD8(+) T cells rapidly up-regulate perforin in response ... More