To study the details of threat detection by microvilli, the authors devised a new approach that allowed them to simultaneously track microvilli as well as the T cell receptor (TCR) proteins T cells use to detect their target antigens. To do this, the team covered simulated patches of antigen-presenting cell membrane with tiny fluorescent particles called quantum dots, which questing T cell microvilli had to push out of the way to reach the membrane surface. This technique, dubbed synaptic contact mapping, allowed the researchers to visualize the microvilli as holes of negative space in the quantum dot fluorescence, while at the same time visualizing TCRs with a different-colored fluorescent marker.

http://www.nanowerk.com/spotlight/spotid=46586.php

Is Hawk getting fired up again.....why yes he is!