OXFORD, England, November 6 /PRNewswire/ -- ProImmune has launched MHC Class II Ultimers(tm), an advanced, affordable tool for evaluating and characterizing CD4+ single antigen-specific T cells, enabling in-depth evaluation of the T cell immune response in a wide range of disease areas including, autoimmune disease, cancer and infectious diseases.
Class II Ultimers(tm), the result of several years of intensive research at ProImmune, are the next generation of MHC Class II multimers, with a superior peptide-linked planar design to improve the interaction between the MHC-peptide complexes and the T cell receptors, for consistent, reliable detection of CD4+ single antigen-specific T cells.
Traditional functional assays, such as proliferation or cytokine secretion, for studying antigen-specific CD4+ T cells are not truly antigen-specific. The MHC tetramer, a more recently available tool, has been difficult to reproduce with a high level of consistency, which has meant that these reagents have not been widely accessible. The detection of CD4+ T cells using MHC tetramers has also been difficult due to the low frequency of these T cells (down to 1 in 100,000 white blood cells) and the low avidity of binding between the MHC-peptide binding complex and the T cell receptor. The peptide-linked planar design of Class II Ultimers(tm) addresses these issues by improving reproducibility and sensitivity of CD4+ T cell detection. The Class II Ultimer(tm) fluorescent detection label has been optimized to maximize the signal to noise ratio of this assay.
ProImmune provides Class II Ultimers(tm) with responsive, expert technical support and customer service. Contrary to ordering Class II tetramers from in-house or non-commercial facilities, customers do not need to apply and wait for reagents or supply any peptide. Class II Ultimers(tm) are delivered quickly with stringent quality control and low batch-to-batch variability. The newly launched Class II Ultimers(tm) complement ProImmune’s existing Pro5(R) Class I Pentamer technology, which was introduced in 2003, for detecting antigen-specific CD8+ T cells.
Commenting on the launch of Class II Ultimers(tm), Dr. Nikolai Schwabe, CEO of ProImmune said: “The launch of our new Class II Ultimers(tm) underlines our strategy to provide innovative, affordable solutions to improve analysis of the T cell immune response. The combined use of Class II Ultimers(tm) with our Pro5(R) Class I Pentamer technology will enable investigators to gain a more complete understanding of the specificity of immune responses, and aid the development of novel immunotherapies to combat many life threatening diseases.”
Notes to Editors:
About ProImmune
ProImmune Ltd is a private biotechnology company with its headquarters in Oxford, UK, that specialises in providing quality research reagents for monitoring the condition of the immune system. ProImmune has a wide range of customers from leading pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, as well as clinical and academic research institutes throughout the world. The Company, founded in November 1999, has secured R&D funding from several DTI Smart, EUREKA and EU Framework VI project grants and has been profitable since its inception. ProImmune owns a portfolio of international patents and patent applications protecting its core products and technologies. The Company also has offices in the USA.
ProImmune Ltd
CONTACT: For more information, please contact: At the Company: Dr NikolaiSchwabe, CEO, ProImmune, Tel: +44-(0)870-042-7279, Email:nschwabe@proimmune.com, Media enquiries: Lorna Watson, Account Director,Northbank Communications, Tel: +44-(0)20-3008-7559, Email:l.watson@northbankcommunications.com
