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It was recently proposed that T lymphocytes, which closely interact with APCs, can extract surface molecules from the presenting cells when they dissociate.These observa-tions question the classical view of discrete interactions between phenotypically defined cell populations. In this review, we summarize some reports suggesting that membrane exchange at the immune synapse can be a vector for intercellular communication and envisage some consequences on the biology of T cells. Keywords:T/APC interaction, trogocytosis,T cell activation, costimulation, immune regulatio