Mechanisms of B cell Synapse Formation Predicted by Stochastic Simulation

The clustering of B cell receptor (BCR) molecules and the formation of the protein segregation structure known as the immunological synapse appears to precede antigen (Ag) uptake by B cells. The mature B cell synapse is characterized by a central cluster of BCR/Ag molecular complexes surrounded by a ring of LFA-1/ICAM-1 complexes. Recent experimental evidence shows receptor clustering in B cells can occur via mechanical or signaling-driven processes. An alternative mechanism of diffusion and affinity-dependent binding has been proposed to explain synapse formation in the absence of signaling-driven processes. In this work, we investigated the biophysical mechanisms that drive immunological synapse formation in B cells across the physiological range of BCR affinity (KA~10^6-10^10 M-1) through computational modeling. Our computational approach is based on stochastic simulation of diffusion and reaction events with a clearly defined mapping between probabilistic parameters of our model and their physical equivalents. We show that a diffusion-and-binding mechanism is sufficient to drive synapse formation only at low BCR affinity and for a relatively stiff B cell membrane that undergoes little deformation. We thus predict the need for alternative mechanisms: a difference in the mechanical properties of BCR/Ag and LFA-1/ICAM-1 bonds and/or signaling driven processes.