Analyzing T Cell Responses: How to analyze cellular immune responses against tumor associated antigens

This book reviews, describes, categorizes and provides a critical assessment of all assays that have been used for the monitoring of antigen-specific immune responses. In particular, it emphasizes a global approach to the analysis of T cell mediated target/host interactions at the systemic and the peripheral level when such interactions are supposed to occur. In addition, the tools described here could be utilized for the search of surrogate biomarkers predictive of treatment responsiveness and/or clinical outcome that are of interest to the biotechnology industry. In detail, this book provides an overview of antigen-specific immune biology in human models of tumor and viral disease, discusses modulation of such responses through immune escape and presents cellular assays (cytoxicity, proliferation, cytokine production using ELISPOT, intracellular staining or cytometric assessment, detection of antigen-specific T cells with tetrameric HLA/epitope complexes or MHC-IG dimers, T cell receptor analysis, assessment of T cell receptor/HLA interactions using peptide/HLA-Green Fluorescent Protein complexes incorporation) and molecular assays including quantitative real-time PCR and gene profiling for evaluation of systemic and peripheral immune responses. "This book represents the first comprehensive description and evaluation of the most important assays utilized to monitor immune responses against tumor associated antigens. Each chapter, prepared by leading investigators in tumor immunology and immunotherapy, details a specific immune topic or analytical method. Specifically tailored to the needs of clinical researchers, basic scientist investigators, and biotechnology innovators, this book provides information that is both sufficiently detailed and eloquently succinct. All discussions are substantiated with a comprehensive literature review. The categorization and organization of these sections is such that one can either pursue the entire book or quickly find necessary information on a specific assay or concept of interest. An in depth description of the methods utilized in the identification of tumor associated antigens is complemented by extensive lists of HLA class I, and class II restricted antigens. This book also addresses the essential topic of tumor cellsaaC--a ability to evade immune recognition and destruction. The potential mechanisms regarding the disparity between the patientsaaC--a immunological and clinical response following immunization are reviewed. Importantly, potential therapeutic strategies to overcome the immune escape mechanisms have been discussed. In summary, Analyzing T Cell Responses provides the most substantial and extensive review of immune response-monitoring techniques available to date. This ample information is effectively conveyed in a concise manner appropriate for both beginning investigators and experienced researchers."

Table of Contents:
Monitoring Antigen-Specific T Cell Responses.- Tumor Associated Antigens.- Immune Escape, Tumor induced immune suppression and immune escape: Mechanisms and Possible Solutions.- Virus Specific T-Cell Responses.- Cytotoxicity Assays Killer Lymphocytes in Cancer.- Monitoring T Cell Proliferation.- Elispot Assay, Assessment of Cellular Immune Responses to Anti-Cancer Vaccines.- Modified Elispot, Modifications of the Elispot Assay for T Cell Monitoring in Cancer Vaccine Trials.- Intracellular Cytokine Staining, Cytokine flow cytometry for characterization of tumor-specific T cell responses.- Cytometric Cytokine Secretion Assay, Detection and Isolation of Antigen-Specific T Cells.- Peptide/MHC Tetramer Analysis.- In Situ MHC Tetramer Staining, In Situ Tetramers.- MHC-IG Dimeric Molecules, Dimers - MHC-IG dimeric molecules for the analysis of antigen-specific T cell responses.- TCR Analyses, T-cell receptor CDR3 analysis: Molecular fingerprinting of the T-cell receptor repertoire.- Peptide/HLA-GFP Complexes, Detection of Antigen-Specific T Cells by Acquisition of Peptide/Hla-Gfp Complexes.- QRT-PCR, Quantitative RT-PCR for the Analysis of T cell Responses in Immunized Cancer Patients.- Microarrays, Gene expression profiling approaches for the monitoring of anti-cancer immune responses.- Concluding Remarks.

Review :
From the reviews of the first edition: "This book represents the first comprehensive description, and evaluation of the most important assays utilized to monitor immune responses against tumor associated antigens. ... Specifically tailored to the needs of clinical researchers, basic science investigators, and biotechnology innovators, this book provides information that is both sufficiently detailed and eloquently succinct. All discussions are substantiated with a comprehensive literature review. ... Analyzing T Cell Responses provides the most substantial and extensive review of immune response-monitoring techniques available to date." (Melanie Hayden, Stephanie Schroter and Boris Minev, Angiogenesis, Vol. 9, 2006)