Validation of ligand tetramers for the detection of antigen-specific lymphocytes

Abstract

The study of antigen-specific lymphocytes has been a key advancement in immunology over the past few decades. One innovation allowing for this type of research was the development of multimerized probes containing antigens, peptide:MHC complexes, or other ligands that can be used to study antigen-specific lymphocytes by flow cytometry. While these types of studies are common and performed by thousands of laboratories, quality control and assessment of probe quality is often minimal. In fact, many of these types of probes are made in-house and protocols vary between labs. While peptide:MHC multimers can often be obtained from commercial sources or core facilities, few such services exist for antigen multimers. To ensure high quality and consistency with antigen probes, we have developed an easy and robust multiplexed approach using commercially available beads able to bind antibodies specific for the antigen of interest. Using this assay, we have sensitively assessed the performance of antigen tetramers and find considerable batch-to-batch variability in performance and stability over time. This assay can also reveal common production errors such as miscalculation of antigen concentration. Unexpectedly, probes including the fluorochrome allophycocyanin exhibited more rapid performance decline compared to probes including the fluorochrome R-phycoerythrin when both were stored at 4 degrees C. This performance decline was reduced for most, but not all, batches when antigen tetramers were instead stored at -20 degrees C in 50% glycerol. This work could set the stage for the development of standardized assays for all commonly used antigens to limit lab-to-lab technical variation, and experimental failure due to tetramer underperformance.