CERI, CEFX, and CPI: Largely Improved Positive Controls for Testing Antigen-Specific T Cell Function in PBMC Compared...

Area of Science:

• Immunology
• Cellular immunology
• Immunoassays

Background:

• Functional T cell immune monitoring requires uncompromised T cells and antigen-presenting cells (APCs).
• Blood processing, storage, and peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) handling introduce variables that can compromise test results.
• Existing positive controls, like CEF peptides, are limited, often racially biased, and primarily assess CD8+ T cell function.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce novel, universally applicable positive controls for T cell immune monitoring.
• To develop tools that assess the functional fitness of CD4+ T cells, CD8+ T cells, and APCs within PBMCs.
• To enhance the reliability and reduce bias in T cell immune monitoring assays.

Main Methods:

• Development of novel peptide-based positive controls targeting CD4+ and CD8+ T cell responses.
• Inclusion of APC-specific positive control components.
• Validation of these controls for assessing PBMC functional fitness prior to antigen-specific testing.

Main Results:

• Introduction of universal CD8+ T cell positive controls, free from racial bias.
• Development of positive controls for CD4+ T cell and APC compartments.
• Establishment of a strategy to assess PBMC functional fitness for T cell immune monitoring.

Conclusions:

• The newly developed positive controls provide essential tools for validating PBMC functional fitness.
• These tools mitigate pre-analytical variables, ensuring the reliability of T cell immune monitoring.
• The universal nature of these controls broadens their applicability across diverse populations.