We used a 1G4 TCR-expressing Jurkat T cell line to study the formation of contacts between cells and vesicles presenting the His-tagged proteins shown in Fig. 1C, using the NTA-His coupling method depicted in Fig. 1B. These proteins were: (1) the pMHC recognised by the 1G4 TCR (i.e. a peptide derived from the tumour antigen NY-ESO; Chen et al., 2005); (2) CD58, which is the ligand of the small adhesion protein CD2; (3) ICAM-1, which binds to LFA-1; and (4) the phosphatase CD45, which is expressed by lymphocytes and APCs. The gene discussed is ICAM1; the disease is neoplasm.