In vitro Assessment of Immunological Synapse Formation by Flow Cytometry

Abstract

In adaptive immune system, formation of immunological synapse between T cells and antigen presenting cells (dendritic cells, B cells, and macrophages) or target cells (tumor cells and viral-infected cells) is critical for the execution of T cell immune responses via cytokine secretion or direct killing activity. Here, we describe the practical methods that directly measure the number of conjugates as a result of immunological synapse formation between T cells and superantigen-loaded B cells or between cytotoxic T cells and antigen-loaded target cells by dual-color flow cytometry.