The Role of Biomembranes and Biophysics in Immune Cell Signaling

Biomembranes, particularly the plasma membrane, take part in the very first steps of the immune responses, as they provide a structural platform that integrates biophysical and biochemical signals necessary for immune receptors to recognize their ligands as well as other sensing mechanisms for immune activation. Biomembranes’ dynamics and biophysical properties in forms of curvature, molecular ordering, and forces have, thus, a significant impact on the immune receptors activation and signal transduction, for instance for T-cell receptor signaling, B-cell receptor signaling, Fc-receptor signaling, and other signaling cascades. Traditional biochemistry or molecular and cellular imaging, however, usually have a low spatial and temporal resolution, and hence do not allow to study dynamic regulations on immune receptor functions. Due to lack of mastery in precision and quantitative tools, the biophysical aspect of immunity, including biological forces, electrostatic interactions and sub-diffraction/real-time molecular dynamics, has often been overlooked in immunology over the past years. At the cellular or nanoscale level, no systemic effects have been exerted to develop an integrated understanding of how biophysical aspects of cell biology operate to mediate immune functions.

With new technological advancements in biophysics, the study of biomembranes’ structure and dynamics in immunology is gaining momentum in both quality and quantity, opening for new prospects in the understanding of immune response regulation. In sharp contrast with other newly emerging immunology frontlines that are rapidly coming into distinctive focal points of public discussions, such as single-cell analysis and host-microbe symbiosis, work on biophysics and biomembranes is somewhat diffused, which hinders the collective development of this particular line of investigation.

This collection aims to provide an overview of the current advances in the understanding of the role of biomembranes composition, dynamics and interaction in the activation of immune response, with a particular focus on the latest cutting-edge technological approaches.

In this Research Topic, we welcome submissions of Original Research articles, Reviews, Opinions and Methods articles aimed to understand how the immunological cascade starting from immune receptors is influenced by:

• Biophysical forces
• Membrane dynamics
• Membrane-cytoskeleton interactions
• Nanoscale molecular interactions
• Lipid domains
• Phase separation

This collection particularly welcomes innovative tools, emerging approaches and ground-breaking ideas aimed to integrate biophysics and immunology research.