title: Quantification and characterization of specific T-cells by antigen-specific cytokine production using ELISPOT assay or intracellular cytokine staining.
abstract: The novel generation of sensitive T-cell assays facilitates the direct quantitation and characterization of specific T-cell responses. Functional T-cell assays such as the ELISPOT assay and the intracellular cytokine cytometry (ICC) employ the antigen-specific induction of cytokines to detect specific T-cells on a single cell level. ICC has the advantage that the simultaneous phenotypic characterization of the antigen-specific T-cells is possible. There is evidence now from clinical cancer vaccination trials, that there is a relationship between the detection of vaccine-induced T-cells by cytokine-based assays and clinical responses. As these assays become increasingly relevant in clinical practice to suggest issues of assay validation and quality control become of major importance.
authors.affiliation: University Hospital Benjamin-Franklin, Medizinische Klinik III, Hematology, Oncology and Transfusion Medicine, Hindenburgdamm 30, Free University of Berlin, Berlin D-12200, Germany.
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Letsch
authors.forename: Carmen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Scheibenbogen
mesh_terms: D000941:Antigens / Q000276:immunology; D016207:Cytokines / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / Q000379:methods*; D018984:Epitopes, T-Lymphocyte / Q000276:immunology*; D005434:Flow Cytometry / Q000379:methods; D006678:HIV / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000378:metabolism; D013194:Staining and Labeling; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D014763:Viral Matrix Proteins / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D000941:Antigens; D016207:Cytokines; D018984:Epitopes, T-Lymphocyte; D014763:Viral Matrix Proteins; D007371:Interferon-gamma