T-cell contact with antigen-presenting B cells initiates an activation cascade which includes an increase in T-cell intracellular calcium and leads to T-cell proliferation and differentiation. We studied cell-cell contact requirements for T-cell activation using an optical trap to control the orientation of T-cell/B-cell pairs and fluorescence microscopy to measure subsequent T-cell(Ca2+)i response. B cells or beads coated with antibodies to the T- cell receptor are trapped with a titanium-sapphire laser and placed at different locations along the T-cell, which has a polarized appearance defined by the shape and direction of crawling. T-cell (Ca2+)i is detected as an emission shift from the combination of fura-red and oregon- green, two cytoplasmic (Ca2+)i indicators. T- cells which are presented antigen at the leading edge have a higher probability of responding and a shorter latency of response than those contacting B-cells or beads with their trailing end.