Active and passive immunization is used in high-risk patients to prevent severe courses of COVID-19, but the impact of prophylactic neutralizing antibodies on the immune reaction to the mRNA vaccines has remained enigmatic. Here we show that CD4 T and B cell responses to Spikevax booster immunization are suppressed by the therapeutic antibodies Casirivimab and Imdevimab. B cell and T cell responses were significantly induced in controls but not in antibody-treated patients.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: SARS-CoV-2 specific antibody-secreting plasma cells (PC) mediating specific humoral immunity have been identified in the human bone marrow (BM) after COVID-19 or vaccination against SARS-CoV-2. However, it remained unclear whether or not they acquire phenotypes of human memory plasma cells.
Methods: SARS-CoV-2-specific human bone marrow plasma cells (BMPC) were characterised by tetramer-based, antigen-specific flow cytometry and FluoroSpot assay.
Here we compared SARS-CoV-2-specific antibody and T-cell responses between older adults (>80 years old, n = 51) and a younger control group (20-53 years old, n = 46) after receiving two doses of BNT162b2. We found that responses in older adults were generally lower, and we identified 10% low-/non-responders. After receiving a third vaccination with BNT162b2, 4 out of 5 low-/non-responders showed antibody and T-cell responses similar to those of responders after two vaccinations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe naked mole rat (Heterocephalus glaber, NMR) is a rodent with exceptional longevity, low rates of age-related diseases and spontaneous carcinogenesis. The NMR represents an attractive animal model in longevity and cancer research, but there are no NMR-specific antibodies available to study its immune system with respect to age- and cancer-related questions. Substantial homology of major NMR immune cell markers with those of Guinea pig, human and, to a lesser extent, mouse and rat origin are implicated for the existence of immunological cross-reactivity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPolystyrene beads are broadly applied in flow cytometry. Implementing bead-based assays in mass cytometry is desired but hampered by the lack of an elemental label required for their detection. In this study, we introduce stable osmium tetroxide labeling as a universal approach for generating functionalized beads readily detectable by mass cytometry.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Therapeutic targeting of tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-α is highly effective in ankylosing spondylitis (AS) patients. However, since one-third of anti-TNF-treated AS patients do not show an adequate clinical response there is an urgent need for new biomarkers that would aid clinicians in their decision-making to select appropriate therapeutic options. Thus, the aim of this explorative study was to identify cell-based biomarkers in peripheral blood that could be used for a pre-treatment stratification of AS patients.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAntibody conjugates applicable in both conventional flow and mass cytometry would offer interesting options for cross-platform comparison, as well as the enrichment of rare target cells by conventional flow cytometry (FC) sorting prior to deep phenotyping by mass cytometry (MC). Here, we introduce a simple method to generate dual fluorochrome/metal-labelled antibodies by consecutive orthogonal labelling. First, we compared different fluorochrome-conjugated antibodies specific for CD4, such as FITC, Vio667, VioGreen or VioBlue for their compatibility with the conventional secondary MAXPAR labelling protocol.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: To evaluate and compare the clinical efficacy of three biomarkers for interferon (IFN) activity (measured directly and indirectly) and six traditional biomarkers in indicating current and prospective disease activity (DA) in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).
Methods: IFNα (dissociation-enhanced lanthanide fluorescent immunoassay), IFNγ-inducible protein 10 (IP-10) (ELISA) and sialic acid-binding Ig-like lectin 1 (SIGLEC-1) (flow cytometry) were measured in 79 accurately characterised patients with lupus and compared with serum titres of Anti-dsDNA (ELISA and radioimmunoassay), Anti-dsDNA-NcX ELISA, Anti-Nuc ELISA, and complement C3 and C4. DA was evaluated using the British Isles Lupus Assessment Group 2004 Index (BILAG-2004) and a modified SLE Disease Activity Index-2000 (mSLEDAI-2K).
CD28(null) T cells are a highly enriched subset of proinflammatory T cells in patients with autoimmune diseases that are oligoclonal and autoreactive. In this study, we analyzed the role of CD152 signaling on the longevity of human CD28(null) T cells. Using a sensitive staining method for CD152, we show that human CD4(+)CD28(null) and CD8(+)CD28(null) T cells rapidly express surface CD152.
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