Ultrasound-guided lymph node fine-needle aspiration for evaluating post-vaccination germinal center responses in humans

Larissa L S Scholte; David J Leggat; Kristen W Cohen; Lara Hoeweler; Guacyara C Erwin; Farhard Rahaman; Angela Lombardo; Vincent Philiponis; Dagna S Laufer; Heather Siefers; Alexis M Ruppel; Joshua Brand; Janine Maenza; Rhi Bronson; Madhu Prabhakaran; Jalen Jean-Baptiste; Orpheus Kolokythas; Aimee A Desrosiers; Caroline K Thoreson; Antje Heit; Nadia J Khati; Elissa Malkin; M Juliana McElrath; Adrian B McDermott; William R Schief; David Diemert; Jeffrey M Bethony

doi:10.1016/j.xpro.2023.102576

Ultrasound-guided lymph node fine-needle aspiration for evaluating post-vaccination germinal center responses in humans

STAR Protoc. 2023 Dec 15;4(4):102576. doi: 10.1016/j.xpro.2023.102576. Epub 2023 Sep 20.

Authors

Larissa L S Scholte¹, David J Leggat², Kristen W Cohen³, Lara Hoeweler⁴, Guacyara C Erwin⁴, Farhard Rahaman⁵, Angela Lombardo⁵, Vincent Philiponis⁵, Dagna S Laufer⁵, Heather Siefers⁵, Alexis M Ruppel⁶, Joshua Brand⁶, Janine Maenza⁷, Rhi Bronson⁶, Madhu Prabhakaran⁶, Jalen Jean-Baptiste⁶, Orpheus Kolokythas⁸, Aimee A Desrosiers⁴, Caroline K Thoreson⁴, Antje Heit³, Nadia J Khati⁴, Elissa Malkin⁴, M Juliana McElrath⁷, Adrian B McDermott⁹, William R Schief¹⁰, David Diemert⁴, Jeffrey M Bethony⁴

Affiliations

¹ Vaccine Research Unit, The George Washington University, Washington, DC 20037, USA. Electronic address: larissascholte@gwu.edu.
² The US Military HIV Research Program, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Silver Spring, MD 20910, USA; Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
³ Vaccine and Infectious Disease Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, Seattle, WA 98109, USA.
⁴ Vaccine Research Unit, The George Washington University, Washington, DC 20037, USA.
⁵ IAVI, New York, NY 10004, USA.
⁶ Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
⁷ Vaccine and Infectious Disease Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, Seattle, WA 98109, USA; Department of Medicine, Division of Allergy and Infectious Disease, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA.
⁸ Department of Radiology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA.
⁹ Vaccines Research and Development, Sanofi, Swiftwater, PA 183709, USA.
¹⁰ IAVI Neutralizing Antibody Center, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA; Center for HIV/AIDS Vaccine Development, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA; Department of Immunology and Microbial Science, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA; The Ragon Institute of Massachusetts General Hospital, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.

Abstract

The lymph node (LN) is a critical biological site for immune maturation after vaccination as it includes several cell populations critical for priming the antibody response. Here, we present a protocol for sampling the LN and isolating cell populations to evaluate immunogens targeting germline cells. We describe steps for media and tube preparation and sample collection using an ultrasound-guided LN fine-needle aspiration procedure. This protocol is safe, quick, low-cost, and less invasive than excisional biopsy. For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please refer to Leggat et al. (2022).¹.

Keywords: Cell Isolation; Clinical Protocol; Immunology.

MeSH terms

Biopsy, Fine-Needle
Germinal Center*
Humans
Lymph Nodes* / diagnostic imaging
Lymph Nodes* / pathology
Ultrasonography, Interventional
Vaccination

Grants and funding

UM1 AI144462/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/United States