A new flow cytometric assay for the simultaneous analysis of antigen-specific elimination of T cells in heterogeneous T cell populations.

Novel immunosuppressive strategies are targeting for an antigen-specific deletion of T cells responsible for organ damage in autoimmunity and allograft rejection. Here, we present a new flow cytometry-based assay that allows the reliable and efficient detection of T cells that were eliminated in an antigen-specific fashion. A stable cell-labelling technique utilizing the two membrane dyes PKH26 and PKH67 has been combined with annexin V and 7-aminoactinomycin (7-AAD) staining to detect apoptotic cells. A differential gating strategy enabled us to determine the viability/apoptosis for each PKH-stained T cell subpopulation independently. The capability to simultaneously analyze apoptosis within T cell mixtures of different antigen specificities establishes this assay as a superior tool for the further development of novel antigen-specific immunosuppressive approaches.