Test panel
Functional T-cell responses are measured with mitogen- or antigen-stimulated expression of CD154. The test panel consists of
- Peripheral blood lymphocyte subsets.
- Mitogen stimulated T-cell responses to Phytohemagglutinin (PHA) and PMA-Ionomycin (PMA).
- Viral antigen-stimulated T-cell responses to Cytomegalovirus (CMV) and (Epstein-Barr virus).
Whole blood, 5 ml from children, 5 ml from adults in sodium heparin green top tubes, is shipped at ambient temperature overnight to Plexision’s reference laboratory. Advantages of using CD154 to identify antigen- and mitogen-specific cells are
- Rapid results: within 6-30 hours compared with 5-7 days for tests which measure proliferation.
- Highly reproducible results with non-permeabilizing detection of CD154 compared with cell-permeabilizing techniques which are used to measure intracellular cytokines.