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Science 4 October 1996:
Vol. 274. no. 5284, pp. 9 - 0
DOI: 10.1126/science.274.5284.9e
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Immune responses mediated by B lymphocytes can be easily quantified by using monoclonal antibodies that recognize the immunoglobulin bound to the B cell surface. Similar tracking of T lymphocyte responses has been frustrated by the lack of an analogous tool to identify the antigen-specific receptors on the surface of the T cells. Altman et al. (p. 94) suggest one solution: they use tetramers of soluble complexes of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules and peptides to label antigen-specific T cells directly. Staining with peptide-specific tetramers to identify cytolytic T lymphocytes (CTLs) against influenza virus correlated well with functional cytotoxicity assays, and the tetramers can also be used to sort an antigen-specific CTL population.




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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)