Tracking epitope-specific T cells

James J. Moon, H. Hamlet Chu, Jason Hataye, Antonio J. Pagán, Marion Pepper, James B. McLachlan, Traci Zell, Marc K. Jenkins

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

230 Scopus citations

Abstract

The tracking of antigen-specific T cells in vivo is a useful approach for the study of the adaptive immune response. This protocol describes how populations of T cells specific for a given peptide - major histocompatibility complex (pMHC) epitope can be tracked based solely on T-cell receptor (TCR) specificity as opposed to other indirect methods based on function. The methodology involves the adoptive transfer of TCR transgenic T cells with defined epitope specificity into histocompatible mice and the subsequent detection of these cells through the use of congenic or clonotypic markers. Alternatively, endogenous epitope-specific T cells can be tracked directly through the use of pMHC tetramers. Using magnetic bead-based enrichment and advanced multiparameter flow cytometry, populations as small as five epitope-specific T cells can be detected from the peripheral lymphoid organs of a mouse. The adoptive transfer procedure can be completed within 3 h, whereas analysis of epitope-specific cells from mice can be completed within 6 h.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)565-581
Number of pages17
JournalNature Protocols
Volume4
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - 2009

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health (J.J.M., J.H., A.J.P., M.P., J.B.M. and M.K.J.) and the American Heart Association (H.H.C.).

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