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Updated: Sep 28, 2026

Detection and Enrichment of Rare Antigen-specific B Cells for Analysis of Phenotype and Function
Published on: February 16, 2017
Identification of an antigen-specific B cell population
Jeffrey Newman1, Jeffrey S Rice, Chuansheng Wang
1Room 405, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, 1300 Morris Park Avenue, Forch. Building, Bronx, NY 10461, USA.
The difficulty in characterizing antigen-specific B cells that arise in the native B cell repertoire has been a formidable obstacle to understanding both protective and pathogenic antibody responses. We have developed a tetramer-based technique for identifying antigen-specific B cells. Biotin-labeled antigen is made tetrameric by interaction with streptavidin. The enhanced avidity of this antigenic compound for the B cell membrane permits the visualization, characterization and isolation of antigen-specific B cells.
The difficulty in characterizing antigen-specific B cells that arise in the native B cell repertoire has been a formidable obstacle to understanding both protective and pathogenic antibody responses. We have developed a tetramer-based technique for identifying antigen-specific B cells. Biotin-labeled antigen is made tetrameric by interaction with streptavidin. The enhanced avidity of this antigenic compound for the B cell membrane permits the visualization, characterization and isolation of antigen-specific B cells.
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