New paper in Nature Communications

Author: Brian Baker

Image from Ma et al., Nature Communications 2025

New paper in Nature Communications describing the role of dynamic allostery in controlling specificity of a T cell receptor towards a public tumor neoantigen. Allosteric communication - action at a distance - emerges from how changes in one part of the neoantigen alter another part, in turn impacting the propensity of the T cell receptor to bind. The through-protein communication is not visible through static structures, but rather emerges from high and low frequency molecular motions. Cool finding with big implications for immune specificity. Congratulations to super star former graduate student and postoc Jiaqi, pinch hitter research professor Cory Ayres, and all the rest of the team. Also a big shout out to Christopher Klebanoff and his team at MSKCC for their crucial contributions.