The Dextramer Technology
The T-cell receptor (TCR) recognizes a specific peptide presented in the context of a particular MHC molecule. This has been successfully used to develop technologies that allow for detection and isolation of distinct T-cell populations, in which all of the T cells carry the same specific TCR. However, the fairly low affinity between the MHC complex and the TCR does not easily permit efficient binding or detection. By the introduction of fluorescent-labeled multimeric MHC reagents, it has become feasible to detect and quantify antigen specific T-cells.
The MHC Dextramers consist of a dextran backbone carrying an optimized number of MHC and fluorochrome molecules. The MHC molecules are aligned as pearls on a string on the dextran backbone. The MHC Dextramers are multimeric reagents that have an apparent, higher TCR-binding affinity compared to single MHCs. The higher binding affinity of the MHC Dextramers is caused by the increased avidity.
The MHC Dextramer products are research reagents for flow cytometry and immuno-histochemistry (IHC). The products are recommended for identification, enumeration and tracing of antigen-specific T-cells during the cell-mediated immune response to e.g. infections, tumors or vaccination.
The standard MHC Dextramers can be used accurately to monitor CD8+ T-cell responses in the following research applications:
- Transplantation
- Cancer vaccine development
- Autologous cancer therapy
- T-cell lymphomas
- T-cell infiltration of solid tumors/tissues
- Infectious disease
- Toxicological studies
MHC Dextramers are suitable for basic and clinical research in a number of applications including drug and vaccine development.
