Measuring T cell-mediated cytotoxicity using fluorogenic caspase substrates

Cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) play a major role in the immune response against viruses and other intracellular pathogens. In addition, CTLs are implicated in the control of tumor cells in certain settings. Accurate measures of CTL function are of critical importance to study the pathogenesis of infectious diseases and to evaluate the efficacy of new vaccines and immunotherapies. To this end, we have recently developed a flow cytometry-based CTL (FCC) assay that measures the CTL-induced caspase activation within target cells using cell permeable fluorogenic caspase substrates. This novel assay reliably detects, by flow cytometry or fluorescence/confocal microscopy, antigen-specific CTLs in a wide variety of human and murine systems, and is safer and more informative than the standard 51Cr-release assay. In addition, the flow cytometric CTL (FCC) assay provides an alternative method that is often more sensitive and physiologically informative when compared to previously described FCC assays, as it measures a biological indicator of apoptosis within the target cell. The FCC assay may thus represent a useful tool to further understand the molecular and cellular mechanisms that underlie CTL-mediated killing during tumorigenesis or following infection with viruses or other intracellular pathogens.