title: Class II major histocompatibility complex tetramer staining: progress, problems, and prospects.
abstract: The use of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) tetramers in the detection and analysis of antigen-specific T cells has become more widespread since its introduction 11 years ago. Early challenges in the application of tetramer staining to CD4+ T cells centred around difficulties in the expression of various class II MHC allelic variants and the detection of low-frequency T cells in mixed populations. As many of the technical obstacles to class II MHC tetramer staining have been overcome, the focus has returned to uncertainties concerning how oligomer valency and T-cell receptor/MHC affinity affect tetramer binding. Such issues have become more important with an increase in the number of studies relying on direct ex vivo analysis of antigen-specific CD4+ T cells. In this review we discuss which problems in class II MHC tetramer staining have been solved to date, and which matters remain to be considered.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Sabrina S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Vollers
authors.forename: Lawrence J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Stern
mesh_terms: D000915:Antibody Affinity; D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D005434:Flow Cytometry / Q000379:methods; D000949:Histocompatibility Antigens Class II / Q000032:analysis* / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D013194:Staining and Labeling / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D000949:Histocompatibility Antigens Class II