Final answer:
Adhesion molecules such as CD4, CD8, and MHC facilitate the interaction between T cells and dendritic cells, crucial for immune function. ICAMs and integrins are important for cell adhesion in tissue development and response to infections, affecting both immunology and biomedical engineering.
Step-by-step explanation:
The interaction between T cells and dendritic cells involves specific adhesion molecules such as CD4, CD8, and MHC molecules that facilitate crucial immune responses. During immune activation, dendritic cells present antigens to T cells using MHC proteins, which are recognized by T cell receptors. Additionally, T cells express adhesion molecules like CD4 or CD8 that bind to MHC, maintaining close contact with the antigen-presenting dendritic cell. Intercellular Cell Adhesion Molecules (ICAMs) and proteins like integrins play significant roles in cell junction formation and attachment to biomaterial scaffolds. Using adhesive peptides that activate integrin receptors, materials can promote cell attachment important for wound healing and tissue engineering. Moreover, extant extracellular antigens are presented to immune cells via MHC class II molecules, while intracellular pathogens like viruses activate cytotoxic T cells through class I MHC molecules.
Viral adhesins also exploit cell adhesion molecules to infect host cells, with HIV using CD4 on T lymphocytes. Collectively, these processes underscore the pivotal role that cell adhesion molecules play not only in immunological contexts but also in biomedical applications like engineered tissue substitutes and the understanding of viral infections.