Description
Background information
Aquaporin-4 (AQP4) is an integral membrane protein belonging to a large family of water channel proteins, the aquaporins. AQP4 is the most prevalent aquaporin channel in the central nervous system (CNS) and it is particular concentrated at the blood-brain barrier and other cerebrospinal fluid interfaces. During CNS injuries as well as brain water imbalances a significant role of AQP4 has been demonstrated and AQP4 auto-antibodies were identified as autoimmune mechanism in neuromyelitis optica (NMO) patients.
Applications
PepTivator® Aquaporin-4 – research grade has been specifically developed for efficient in vitro stimulation of Aquaporin-4–specific T cells. Peptides of 15 amino acids in length and 11 amino acids overlap represent an optimized solution for stimulating both CD4+ and CD8+ T cells in various applications, including:
- Detection and analysis of Aquaporin-4 – specific effector/memory T cells in PBMCs by MACS® Cytokine Secretion Assays, intracellular cytokine staining, or other technologies.
- Isolation of viable Aquaporin-4–specific CD4+ T cells with the CD154 MicroBead Kit, or of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells using the CD137 MicroBead Kit or MACS Cytokine Secretion Assay – Cell Enrichment and Detection Kits. Subsequently, cells can be expanded for generation of T cell lines.
- Generation of Aquaporin-4–specific effector/memory T cells from naive T cell populations.
- Pulsing of antigen-presenting cells.
Overview
PepTivator® Aquaporin-4 is a pool of lyophilized peptides, consisting mainly of 15-mer sequences with 11 amino acids overlap, covering the complete sequence of the human aquaporin-4 protein (UniProt ID: P55087).
In vitro stimulation of antigen-specific T cells with PepTivator Peptide Pools causes the secretion of effector cytokines and the up-regulation of activation markers, which then allow the detection and isolation of antigen-specific T cells.
