title: HLA class II tetramers: tools for direct analysis of antigen-specific CD4+ T cells.
abstract: Immunotherapies for human autoimmune and immune-mediated diseases are proliferating rapidly, and with these changes comes the opportunity to monitor patients for immune responses to therapy based on early surrogate markers for clinical responses. Class II tetramers have the potential to serve as these sorts of markers for immune monitoring, and thereby assist with patient management, therapy selection, and improved outcomes. However, important issues of TCR avidity require resolution, because much is still unknown regarding location, quantitation, and characterization of the human T cell response. Opportunities for application of tetramer technologies in the near future will enable both clinical progress and the development of new insights into human CD4+ T cell biology in vivo.
authors.affiliation: Virginia Mason Research Center and University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle 98101-2795, USA. nepom@vmresearch.org
authors.forename: Gerald T
authors.initials: GT
authors.lastname: Nepom
authors.forename: Jane H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Buckner
authors.forename: Erik J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Novak
authors.forename: Sandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Reichstetter
authors.forename: Helena
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Reijonen
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gebe
authors.forename: Rongfang
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Swanson
authors.forename: William W
authors.initials: WW
authors.lastname: Kwok
mesh_terms: D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000276:immunology; D000949:Histocompatibility Antigens Class II / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D020836:Protein Structure, Quaternary
chemical_list: D000949:Histocompatibility Antigens Class II