Dynamic binding between CD2 and CD58 counter-receptors on opposing cells optimizes immune recognition through stabilization of cell-cell contact and juxtaposition of surface membranes at a distance suitable for T cell receptor-ligand interaction. Digitized time-lapse differential interference contrast and immunofluorescence microscopy on living cells now show that this binding also induces T cell polarization. Moreover, CD2 can facilitate motility of T cells along antigen-presenting cells via a movement referred to as scanning. Both activated CD4 and CD8 T cells are able to scan antigen-presenting cells surfaces in the absence of cognate antigen. Scanning is critically dependent on T cell -integrin function, as well as myosin light chain kinase. More importantly, surface CD2 molecules rapidly redistribute on interaction with a cellular substratum, resulting in a 100-fold greater CD2 density in the uropod versus the leading edge. In contrast, no redistribution is observed for CD11a͞CD18 or CD45. Molecular compartmentalization of CD2, T cell receptor, and lipid rafts within the uropod prearranges the cellular activation machinery for subsequent immune recognition. This ''presynapse'' formation on primed T cells will likely facilitate the antigen-dependent recognition capability required for efficient immune surveillance.A rrival of antigen-laden dendritic cells into the lymph node results in the activation of naive T cells, leading to their proliferation and acquisition of effector functions (1). The subsequent migration of activated T cells into pathogen-invaded body tissues is a key feature of immunity and immune surveillance. Diapedesis of T cells through the vascular endothelium, as well as their crawling movement on the surface of antigen presenting cells (APCs), parenchymal cells and extracellular matrix (ECM), requires T cell polarization (2). Although the molecular basis of this process is not well understood, certain features have been identified. Cell polarization is characterized by the formation of a leading edge at the front of the cell and a uropod at its back, allowing conversion of mechanical forces generated through adhesion to a substratum into net cellular locomotion (3). While the actin cytoskeleton redistributes at the leading edge, the microtubule organizing center (MTOC) localizes within the uropod allowing a greater deformability of the migrating cells (4-6). Given that the MTOC and the Golgi apparatus colocalize, the secretion of soluble mediators is directed toward the ligated cell surface (7). Moreover, chemokine receptors responsible for the directionality of the migration along a gradient of chemoattractants are concentrated within the leading edge (8). In contrast, the uropod mediates important adhesion functions, as suggested by accumulation of a notable number of adhesion molecules including ICAM-1, CD44, CD43, P-selective glycoprotein ligand 1 (PSGL-1), and L-selectin during migration (9, 10). The uropod therefore appears to anchor the cell to the ECM, APCs, or endothelial cells w...