Comprehensive Evaluation of the Expressed CD8+ T Cell Epitope Space Using High-Throughput Epitope Mapping

Conclusion The data presented in this report not only affirm the need for experimental epitope verification, but also serve to make the point that such experiments have become technically feasible. Testing of 553 individual peptides, using five PBMC donors in a single experiment, as reported herein, represents a milestone accomplishment in that direction. We would suggest that, using the technology presented here, it should be possible to epitope map entire genomes, e.g., of viruses. Thereby, for the first time, it will become feasible to study expressed T cell repertoires recognizing entire antigenic systems. In the coming years, we anticipate that such high-resolution studies of individuals', and cohorts', epitope space should become a reality, and will fertilize the field of “epitomics.” Similar to other recently-developed “omics” platforms, the abundance and speed with which new information will be acquired, while overwhelming to the human mind, is destined to shed unprecedented insight into T cell epitope recognition in the context of both health and disease, and eventually will permit the precise assessment of the antigen-specific T cell repertoire as required for accurate immune monitoring of CD8+ T cell immunity. Ethics Statement The white blood cells used in this study were collected under an IRB of Hemacare, Van Nuys, California. They were sold anonymously to CTL, that is CTL, and the authors have no knowledge o...
Source: Frontiers in Immunology - Category: Allergy & Immunology Source Type: research