The Applications of ELISpot in the Identification and Treatment of Various Forms of Tuberculosis and in the Cancer Immunotherapies

Abstract

ELISpot (enzyme-linked immunospot) is a powerful immunological tool for the detection of cytokine-secreting cells at a single-cell resolution. It is widely used for the diagnosis of various infectious diseases, e.g., tuberculosis and sarcoidosis, and it is also widely used in cancer immunotherapy research. Its ability to distinguish between active and latent forms of tuberculosis makes it an extremely powerful tool for epidemiological studies and contact tracing. In addition to that, it is a very useful tool for the research and development of cancer immunotherapies. ELISpot can be employed to assess the immune responses against various tumor-associated antigens, which could provide valuable insights for the development of effective therapies against cancers. Furthermore, it plays a crucial role to the evaluation of immune responses against specific antigens that not only could aid in vaccine development but also assist in treatment monitoring and development of therapeutic and diagnostic strategies. This chapter briefly describes some of the applications of ELISpot in tuberculosis and cancer research.

Keywords: Antituberculosis treatment (ATT); Bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG); ELISpot; Infection; Interferon-Y (IFN-Y); Latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI); Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB); Tuberculin Skin Test (TST); Tuberculosis.