Multimer technologies for detection and adoptive transfer of antigen-specific T cells.
Identification and purification of antigen-specific T cells without altering their functional status are of high scientific and clinical interest. Staining with major histocompatibility complex (MHC)-peptide multimers constitutes a very powerful method to study antigen-specific T-cell subpopulations, allowing their direct visualization and quantification. MHC-peptide multimers, such as dimers, tetramers, pentamers, streptamers, dextramers and octamers have been used to evaluate the frequency of CD8(+) T cells, specific for tumor/leukemia-associated antigens as well as for viral antigens, e.g., CMVpp65 and EBV-EBNA. Moreover, MHC-peptide multimers have been used for rapid and efficient ex vivo isolation and expansion of T cells. A recent development in the field of MHC-peptide multimers led to the purification of CD8(+) T cells specific for leukemia antigens. This might help to select leukemia-specific donor lymphocyte infusions (DLIs), thus allowing dissection of the noxious graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) from beneficial anti-viral and even anti-leukemic effects. This review covers different types of MHC-peptide multimers and their applications, as well as the impact that multimers might have on further development of DLIs.
Department of Internal Medicine III, Clinical Stem Cell Transplantation and Immunotherapy, University Clinic Rostock, 18055 Rostock, Germany.
Rosaely
R
Casalegno-Garduño
Anita
A
Schmitt
Junxia
J
Yao
Xinchao
X
Wang
Xun
X
Xu
Mathias
M
Freund
Michael
M
Schmitt
D019264:Adoptive Transfer / Q000379:methods*; D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm / Q000276:immunology*; D018414:CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology / Q000637:transplantation; D002469:Cell Separation / Q000379:methods*; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D006086:Graft vs Host Disease / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D007938:Leukemia / Q000276:immunology / Q000628:therapy; D008285:Major Histocompatibility Complex / Q000276:immunology; D010455:Peptides / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology*; D055503:Protein Multimerization; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology* / Q000637:transplantation*
D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm; D010455:Peptides