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Application and utility of mass cytometry in vaccine development
Patrick M Reeves1, Ann E Sluder1, Susan Raju Paul1
1Vaccine and Immunotherapy Center, Massachusetts General Hospital-East, Boston, Massachusetts, USA; and.
Insights
Mass cytometry, a powerful tool for systems immunology, enhances the study of immune responses to vaccines and infections. This review explores its application in vaccine development, comparing it to other technologies.
Area of Science:
- Immunology
- Biotechnology
- Vaccinology
Background:
- Mass cytometry offers highly multiplexed profiling of cellular immune responses in small samples.
- It holds significant potential for understanding immune responses to infectious diseases and vaccines.
- Current vaccine development has not fully integrated mass cytometry from initial stages.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review mass cytometry studies relevant to vaccine development.
- To compare mass cytometry with other systems-level immune profiling technologies.
- To discuss considerations for using mass cytometry in vaccine development.
Main Methods:
- Literature review of published mass cytometry studies.
- Comparative analysis of mass cytometry and other systems-level immune profiling techniques.
- Discussion of practical aspects for mass cytometry implementation in vaccine research.
Main Results:
- Mass cytometry has been used in several studies to profile immune responses post-infection and post-vaccination.
- The technology provides deep insights into cellular immunity crucial for vaccine efficacy.
- No vaccine program has yet systematically used mass cytometry from inception through evaluation.
Conclusions:
- Mass cytometry is a valuable technology for advancing systems immunology and vaccine development.
- Its systematic application could significantly inform vaccine candidate design and clinical assessment.
- Further integration of mass cytometry is recommended for comprehensive vaccine research.
Abstract:
Mass cytometry enables highly multiplexed profiling of cellular immune responses in limited-volume samples, advancing prospects of a new era of systems immunology. The capabilities of mass cytometry offer expanded potential for deciphering immune responses to infectious diseases and to vaccines. Several studies have used mass cytometry to profile protective immune responses, both postinfection and postvaccination, although no vaccine-development program has yet systematically employed the technology from the outset to inform both candidate design and clinical evaluation. In this article, we review published mass cytometry studies relevant to vaccine development, briefly compare immune profiling by mass cytometry to other systems-level technologies, and discuss some general considerations for deploying mass cytometry in the context of vaccine development.-Reeves, P. M., Sluder, A. E., Raju Paul, S., Scholzen, A., Kashiwagi, S., Poznansky, M. C. Application and utility of mass cytometry in vaccine development.

