Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 9, 2026
Discrimination of Seven Immune Cell Subsets by Two-fluorochrome Flow Cytometry
Published on: March 5, 2019
Cytokine flow cytometry: a multiparametric approach for assessing cellular immune responses to viral antigens
Vernon C Maino1, Holden T Maecker
1BD Biosciences, San Jose, CA 95131, USA. smaino@bdis.com
Insights
Measuring T cell responses to viral infections like HIV and HCV requires more than just cell counts. Factors like functional avidity and cytokine profiles are crucial for understanding immune protection against viruses.
Area of Science:
- Immunology
- Virology
- Cellular immunology
Background:
- CD8 and CD4 T cell responses are key to cellular immunity against viral infections (e.g., HIV, HCV).
- Measuring only T cell frequencies may not fully capture their protective role due to complex virologic and cellular interactions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review measurable factors influencing T cell-mediated protection against viral pathogens.
- To highlight the importance of a multifaceted approach beyond T cell subset magnitude.
Main Methods:
- Review of current literature on T cell responses in viral infections.
- Discussion of advanced quantitative assays for measuring antigen-specific T cells.
- Emphasis on automated cytokine flow cytometry (CFC) for comprehensive immune parameter assessment.
Main Results:
- Viral-specific T cell efficacy depends on functional avidity, epitope breadth, cytokine repertoire, anergy, and differentiation phenotype, not just magnitude.
- Automated CFC offers an efficient method to measure these complex immune parameters.
Conclusions:
- A comprehensive assessment of multiple T cell immune parameters is essential for understanding protective immunity against viral infections.
- Advancements in automated sample preparation and analysis enhance the measurement of these critical immune factors.
Abstract:
Considerable attention has been focused on CD8 and CD4 T cell responses as a major element of the cellular immune response to viral infections including human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV). However, increasing evidence based on the recent introduction of more quantitative assays for measuring antigen-specific T cells has suggested that the role of these cells in the development of a protective immune response to a particular viral pathogen may be determined by a complex interplay of multiple virologic and cellular factors. Thus, measurements of only the frequencies of the T cell subsets participating in the response to viral pathogens may be an incomplete reflection of efficacy. In this review, we suggest that some measurable factors may influence the role of T cell immunity in conferring protection, including functional avidity, epitope breadth and specificity, proliferative capacity, cytokine repertoire, degree of anergy, and differentiation phenotype, as well as magnitude, of viral-specific CD4 and CD8 T cells. We suggest that automated cytokine flow cytometry (CFC) is an efficient approach to the measurement of the complex interplay of multiple immune parameters involved in immune protection. These ideas are discussed in the context of new developments in sample preparation and analysis automation.
