Optimized ex vivo stimulation identifies multi-functional HBV-specific T cells in a majority of chronic hepatitis B patients.

ABSTRACT: High antigen burden during chronic hepatitis B (CHB) results in a low frequency HBV-specific T cell response with restricted functionality. However, this observation is based on limited data because low T cell frequencies have hindered effective ex vivo analysis. We adapted the ELISpot assay to overcome this obstacle to measure ex vivo T cell responses in CHB patients. We modified the key variables of cell number and the peptide pulsing method to improve ex vivo detection of HBV-specific T cells. We detected IFN-γ responses in 10/15 vaccinated controls and 20/30 CHB patients, averaging 195 and 84 SFUs/2 × 10⁶ PBMCs respectively. Multi-analyte FluoroSpots improved functional characterization of T cells. We detected IFN-γ responses in all tested vaccinated controls (n = 10) and CH

SUBMITTER: Chua CG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7347526 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature