Recent advances in pMHC multimer technology / 中国免疫学杂志

ABSTRACT

To overcome the intrinsic low affinity between peptide bound major histocompatibility complex(pMHC) and T cell receptors (TCRs) on T cell surface,pMHC can be multimerized to enhance its avidity to TCRs.Since 20 years ago pMHC tetramer was first applied in the detection of antigen specific T cells,it has become one of the most important immunoassay tools.Recently,pMHC multimers have been significantly improved over the original tetramer.pMHC multimers with higher valence have been produced in order to enhance detection sensitivity.Additionally,reversible pMHC multimers,which can be released from T cell surface to avoid potential damage to T cells,also have been applied in the isolation of antigen specific T cells.As a class of molecular tools,pMHC multimers play an important role in immunoassays and immunotherapies.A good knowledge and effective utilization of those tools will be greatly helpful in scientific and clinical applications.