Use of CD137 to study the full repertoire of CD8+ T cells without the need to know epitope specificities.
CD137 (4-1BB) is a member of the TNFR-family with costimulatory function, triggering prosurvival signals in activated T-cells. Upregulation of CD137 upon stimulation allows identifying and isolating live, human antigen-specific CD8+ T-cells of all phenotypes, and therefore provides a comprehensive detection method. Furthermore responses against antigen mixtures can be easily detected, enabling antigen discovery in a stepwise deconvoluting approach. In this article, we will discuss various aspects of this methodology, including potential pitfalls as well as a variety of applications, as illustrated by examples from our laboratory.
University Children's Hospital, Würzburg, Germany. Woelfl_M@klinik.uni-wuerzburg.de
Matthias
M
Wölfl
Jürgen
J
Kuball
Matthias
M
Eyrich
Paul G
PG
Schlegel
Philip D
PD
Greenberg
D018414:CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D000939:Epitopes / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000378:metabolism; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D008212:Lymphocyte Depletion; D053261:Tumor Necrosis Factor Receptor Superfamily, Member 9 / Q000276:immunology*
D000939:Epitopes; D053261:Tumor Necrosis Factor Receptor Superfamily, Member 9; D007371:Interferon-gamma