PMID- 14639858
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20040108
LR  - 20091109
IS  - 1330-0164 (Print)
IS  - 1330-0164 (Linking)
VI  - 57
IP  - 4
DP  - 2003
TI  - [MHC tetramers: tracking specific immunity].
PG  - 255-9
AB  - In an adaptive immune response, antigen is recognized by two distinct sets of 
      highly variable receptor molecules: (1) immunoglobulins, that serve as antigen 
      receptors on B cells and (2) the antigen-specific receptors on T cells. T cells 
      play important role in the control of infection and in the development of 
      protective immunity. These cells can also mediate anti-tumor effects and, in case 
      of autoimmune syndromes, contribute to the development and pathology of disease. 
      The specificity of T cells is determined by T cell receptors (TCR). Understanding 
      of the success of immune responses requires the direct measurement of 
      antigen-specific T lymphocytes. Cell with major histocompatibility complex (MHC) 
      class I molecules are able to present antigens to antigen-specific CD8+ cytotoxic 
      T lymphocytes. MHC class I molecules present small peptides (epitopes) processed 
      from intracellular antigens such as viruses and intracellular bacteria. MHC class 
      I molecules in humans are designated as human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class I and 
      divided into HLA-A, -B and -C. CD8+ T cells recognize MHC class I molecules and 
      after activation produce proteins that destroy infected cells. MHC class II 
      molecules receive their peptides mainly from extracellular and soluble antigens 
      and present them to the CD4+ T helper cells. A recently described technique that 
      can be used in flow cytometry enables us to quantify ex vivo antigen-specific T 
      cells by binding of soluble tetramer MHC-peptide complexes attached to 
      fluorochrome. Quantitative analyses of antigen-specific T cell populations 
      provide important information on the natural course of immune responses. The 
      interaction of T cell receptors on T lymphocytes with tetrameric MHC-peptide 
      complexes mimics the situation on the cell surface, and allows for reliable 
      binding. Tetramers consist of four biotinylated HLA-peptide epitope complexes 
      bound to streptavidin conjugated with fluorescent dye. Tetramer technology has 
      sensitivity of detection as little as 0.02% of total cytotoxic T cell pool or T 
      helper cell pool (i.e. approximately 1 in 50.000 lymphocytes). The combination of 
      this technology with intracellular cytokine staining methods opens up 
      significantly better ways of studying these cells than previously possible, 
      allowing immunologists to look at their life cycle (activation and 
      proliferation), manner of death (aging and apoptosis) and effector function 
      (cytotoxic potential and cytokine production). MHC tetramers class I have yielded 
      useful insights into in vivo dynamic and function of antigen-specific CD8+ T 
      cells in viral infections, parasitic infections, cancer, autoimmune disease and 
      transplantation. This knowledge is of special interest for immunotherapy, 
      diagnostic monitoring of T cell mediated immunity, and the development of new 
      vaccination strategies. There is some possibility for cell therapy with 
      antigen-specific CD8+ T cells for various diseases including cancer and viral 
      infections. Targeted immunotherapy of selective deletion of auto--or alloreactive 
      T cells with MHC tetramers may be important for the treatment of autoimmune 
      disease, or to prevent the rejection of transplanted organs. The utility of this 
      technique for the immunotherapy in vivo needs to be confirmed and modified in 
      further research. Understanding how antigen-specific cells develop and function 
      in different circumstances and pathologies will be the key to unravelling the 
      secrets of cellular immune system.
FAU - Kosor, Ela
AU  - Kosor E
AD  - Imunoloski zavod, Hrvatski zavod za javno zdravstvo, Zagreb, Hrvatska.
FAU - Gagro, Alenka
AU  - Gagro A
FAU - Drazenovic, Vladimir
AU  - Drazenovic V
FAU - Kuzman, Ilija
AU  - Kuzman I
FAU - Jeren, Tatjana
AU  - Jeren T
FAU - Rakusic, Snjezana
AU  - Rakusic S
FAU - Rabatic, Sabina
AU  - Rabatic S
FAU - Markotic, Alemka
AU  - Markotic A
FAU - Gotovac, Katja
AU  - Gotovac K
FAU - Sabioncello, Ante
AU  - Sabioncello A
FAU - Cecuk, Esma
AU  - Cecuk E
FAU - Kerhin-Brkljacic, Vesna
AU  - Kerhin-Brkljacic V
FAU - Gjenero-Margan, Ira
AU  - Gjenero-Margan I
FAU - Kaic, Bernard
AU  - Kaic B
FAU - Mlinaric-Galinovic, Gordana
AU  - Mlinaric-Galinovic G
FAU - Kastelan, Andrija
AU  - Kastelan A
FAU - Dekaris, Dragan
AU  - Dekaris D
LA  - hrv
PT  - English Abstract
PT  - Journal Article
PT  - Review
TT  - MHC-tetrameri: na tragu specificnoj imunosti.
PL  - Croatia
TA  - Acta Med Croatica
JT  - Acta medica Croatica : casopis Hravatske akademije medicinskih znanosti
JID - 9208249
RN  - 0 (Epitopes)
SB  - IM
MH  - CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes/*immunology
MH  - Epitopes/immunology
MH  - Humans
MH  - Immunologic Techniques
MH  - Major Histocompatibility Complex/*immunology
MH  - Viruses/immunology
RF  - 14
EDAT- 2003/12/03 05:00
MHDA- 2004/01/09 05:00
CRDT- 2003/12/03 05:00
PHST- 2003/12/03 05:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2004/01/09 05:00 [medline]
PHST- 2003/12/03 05:00 [entrez]
PST - ppublish
SO  - Acta Med Croatica. 2003;57(4):255-9.