In the journal Science Immunology, researchers from DTU Health Technology and Jacobs University in Bremen have just published their cutting-edge research demonstrating advancement in detection of a certain type of immune cells, called T cells.
For example, in cancer immunotherapy (a therapeutic approach that engage patients own immune cells) characterization of T cells that recognize cancer cells is crucial for tailoring personalized treatment strategies.
To find out how well the immunotherapy is working, scientists and doctors want to check how many tumor-specific T cells a patient has mounted.
The tumor-specific T cells are identified by their specific T cell receptor using a colored reagent called an MHC tetramer.
The MHC proteins of the MHC tetramer reagent were previously difficult to produce due to the inherent instability of the MHC protein, and that used to be a bottleneck in research and diagnosis.
"Whenever a researcher needed MHC tetramers, they had to ask a company to make them, and the process took four to six weeks", explains Prof. Sebastian Springer, Jacobs University Bremen.