A tetramer assay, or tetramer stain, is a powerful technique designed to identify and quantify peptide-specific, MHC-restricted T cells at the single cell level. Due to the low affinity of this interaction, traditional flow cytometry struggles to detect the interaction between a monomeric peptide-MHC complex (pMHC) and its corresponding T cell receptor (TcR).
However, multimerization of biotinylated pMHC e.g. using streptavidin to tetramerize the monomeric peptide-MHC complexes, significantly enhances the avidity of the pMHC complexes towards any T cells with T cell receptors of the corresponding peptide-specificity and MHC-restriction. This heightened avidity allows for the precise and reliable single-cell detection, enumeration and characterization of specific T cells, providing valuable insights into specific immune responses and aiding groundbreaking research in immunology. Explore the depths of antigen-specific T cell analysis with our cutting-edge tetramer assay, revolutionizing the way we understand immune responses.
For more information or to inquire about our tetramer assay services, please contact us at info@immunaware.com.