Enumeration of lymphokine-secreting cells as a quantitative measure for cellular immune responses in rhesus macaques

We investigated whether enumeration of lymphokine-secreting T cells can be used as a quantitative measure to determine the immunogenicity of foreign proteins in rhesus monkeys. In addition, it was assessed whether this approach can supplement and/or substitute for the well-established lymphoproliferation assay. Two candidate vaccine proteins (e.g., HIV-1 gp120 and HSV-2gD) were used as model antigens for immunization. PBMCs from immunized animals were antigenically stimulated and evaluated on their proliferative capacity and lymphokine release at the single cell level. The experiments showed a close quantitative correlation between antigen-triggered proliferative responses and the antigen-induced generation of IL-2 and IFN-gamma producing cells (pc). IL-4pc were found to appear relatively late after the initiation of antigen exposure. The data indicate that ELISPOT assays provide valuable tools for the assessment of the antigenicity of foreign proteins in vivo.