In Situ MHC-tetramer Staining and Quantitative Analysis to Determine the Location, Abundance, and Phenotype of Antigen-specific CD8 T Cells in Tissues

J Vis Exp. 2017 Sep 22:(127):56130. doi: 10.3791/56130.

Abstract

T cells are critical to many immunological processes, including detecting and eliminating virus-infected cells, preventing autoimmunity, assisting in B-cell and plasma-cell production of antibodies, and detecting and eliminating cancer cells. The development of MHC-tetramer staining of antigen-specific T cells analyzed by flow cytometry has revolutionized our ability to study and understand the immunobiology of T cells. While extremely useful for determining the quantity and phenotype of antigen-specific T cells, flow cytometry cannot determine the spatial localization of antigen-specific T cells to other cells and structures in tissues, and current disaggregation techniques to extract the T cells needed for flow cytometry have limited effectiveness in non-lymphoid tissues. In situ MHC-tetramer staining (IST) is a technique to visualize T cells that are specific for antigens of interest in tissues. In combination with immunohistochemistry (IHC), IST can determine the abundance, location, and phenotype of antigen-specific CD8 and CD4 T cells in tissues. Here, we describe a protocol to stain and enumerate antigen-specific CD8 T cells, with specific phenotypes located within specific tissue compartments. These procedures are the same that we used in our recent publication by Li et al., entitled "Simian Immunodeficiency Virus-Producing Cells in Follicles Are Partially Suppressed by CD8+ Cells In Vivo." The methods described are broadly applicable because they can be used to localize, phenotype, and quantify essentially any antigen-specific CD8 T cell for which MHC tetramers are available, in any tissue.

Publication types

  • Video-Audio Media

MeSH terms

  • CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes / immunology*
  • Flow Cytometry / methods*
  • Histocompatibility Antigens Class I / analysis
  • Histocompatibility Antigens Class I / metabolism*
  • Humans
  • Immunohistochemistry
  • Microscopy, Confocal / methods*
  • Phenotype

Substances

  • Histocompatibility Antigens Class I