2023 Advancements in Research with QuickSwitch™ Custom Tetramer Kits

Here are the highlights of some of the influential publications that have utilised MBLI QuickSwitch™ Custom Tetramer Kits in 2023.

A study in Nat Commun by  Tai, W., et al., (2023) (5) generated HLA A*02:01 and HLA-A*11:01 tetramers with epitopes of SARS-CoV-2 and performed staining of CD8+ T cells to evaluate substitutions in the non-structural proteins. The wild-type peptides, associated mutant peptides, and positive control peptides tetramers were generated by either with HLA-A*02:01 (TB-7300-K1) or HLA-A*11:01(TB-7304-K1) QuickSwitch™ Custom Tetramer Kit. Overall the data identified three specific HLA-I epitope-enriched peptides within the nonstructural proteins of SARS-CoV-2 that exhibited high immunogenicity, resulting in the activation of human CTL responses (5). 

Another study in Nat Commun by Saotome, K., Dudgeon, D., Colotti, K. et al. (2023) used cryoEM to examine TCR-pMHC recognition, with emphasis on affinity α/β TCRs derived from humanised mice that target a peptide from the cancer-testis antigen MAGE (9). To determine which of the two substitutions (V2L and T9S) is responsible for the preferential binding of the TCRs to MAGEA4 over MAGEA8, each custom peptide was loaded onto the QuickSwitch™ HLA-A*02:01 Tetramer-PE (TB-7300-K1). The peptide exchange resulted in tetramers that were used in flow analysis to evaluate the binding of antigens to the TCRs. The flow cytometry data showed the pMHC tetramers binding to primary human T cells expressing PN45428 or PN45545 TCRs and indicated that both PN45428 and PN45545 preferentially bind to MAGEA4 (9).

Shin et al.,2023 (8), evaluated the therapeutic efficacy of FAP Nano vaccines alone and in combination with an anticancer drug in ECM-rich desmo-plastic tumour models. The Immunodominant Epitope Peptides of FAP were predicted using three epitope-prediction programs. The QuickSwitch™ Quant H-2 Kb Tetramer Kit-PE (TB-7400-K1) was used to accurately measure the presence of FAPPEP1-specific CD8+ T cells within the lymph node. The tetramer assays showed a significant increase in the percentage of H-2Kb FAPPEP1 tetramer+ CD8+ T cells exclusively in the FAPPEP1-SLNP-immunised group, as compared to the untreated control group (8).

The Cell Press STAR publication details a protocol which examines T cells from transplanted organs with tissue-specific peptides. QuickSwitch™ Custom Tetramer Kits were used to generate multiple tetramers in order to screen an array of >100 pMHC epitopes (12). Son, Eric T., et al., 2023 performed a direct comparison of the UV cleavable technology and, QuickSwitch™ Custom Tetramer Kit. When compared to the UV peptide exchange detection method, QuickSwitch™ detected a higher percentage of T cells with a better single-to-noise ratio, indicating less likelihood of false positive results (12). 

MBLI QuickSwitch™ Custom Tetramer kits are designed to create custom tetramers for both human and mouse Class I MHC, as well as human Class II MHC Tetramers. With just one kit, you can easily perform peptide-MHC exchange and accurately quantify your exchange without the need for complex or difficult techniques like UV cleavage!

2023 References:

1. Zhou, Yuqi, et al. “Chimeric antigen receptors enable superior control of HIV replication by rapidly killing infected cells.” PLoS pathogens 19.12 (2023): e1011853.
2. Zhang, Yang, et al. “Complete remission of tumors in mice with neoantigen-painted exosomes and anti-PD-1 therapy.” Molecular Therapy (2023).
3. Wu, Ming, et al. “Spleen‐targeted neoantigen DNA vaccine for personalized immunotherapy of hepatocellular carcinoma.” EMBO Molecular Medicine (2023): e16836.
4. Qin, Lijuan, et al. “GPC3 and PEG10 peptides associated with placental gp96 elicit specific T cell immunity against hepatocellular carcinoma.” Cancer Immunology, Immunotherapy (2023): 1-18.
5. Tai, W., Feng, S., Chai, B. et al. An mRNA-based T-cell-inducing antigen strengthens COVID-19 vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 variants. Nat Commun 14, 2962 (2023).
6. Wang, Wenfeng, et al. “Lymphatic endothelial transcription factor Tbx1 promotes an immunosuppressive microenvironment to facilitate post-myocardial infarction repair.” Immunity (2023).
7. Xiao, Jingyu, et al. “Engineering In Vitro Organ‐Structured Tumor Model for Evaluating Neoantigen‐Specific T Cell Responses in Hepatocellular Carcinoma.” Advanced Materials Interfaces (2023): 2300155
8. Shin, Hocheol, Yujin Kim, and Sangyong Jon. “Nanovaccine displaying immunodominant T cell epitopes of fibroblast activation protein is effective against desmoplastic tumors.” ACS nano (2023). 10.1021/acsnano.3c00764
9. Saotome, K., Dudgeon, D., Colotti, K. et al. Structural analysis of cancer-relevant TCR-CD3 and peptide-MHC complexes by cryoEM. Nat Commun 14, 2401 (2023). doi:10.1038/s41467-023-37532-7
10. Bruno, Peter M., et al. “High-Throughput, Targeted MHC Class I Immunopeptidomics Using a Functional Genetics Screening Platform.” Nature Biotechnology, 2023, doi:10.1038/s41587-022-01566-x.noue, Shinya, et al. “Induction of potent antitumor immunity by intradermal DNA injection using a novel needle‐free pyro‐drive jet injector.” Cancer Science 114.1 (2023): 34.
11. Li, Yuanke, et al. “Tumor Cell Nanovaccines based on Genetically Engineered Antibody‐anchored Membrane.” Advanced Materials (2023): 2208923.
12. Son, Eric T., et al. “Screening Self-Peptides for Recognition by Mouse Alloreactive cd8+ T Cells Using Direct Ex Vivo Multimer Staining.” STAR Protocols, vol. 4, no. 1, 2023, p. 101943., doi:10.1016/j.xpro.2022.101943.

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