This paper, published in the Lancet, showed how ELISpot was used in a clinical trial aimed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of a CMV vaccine, V160, in preventing CMV infection.
The name cytomegalovirus reflects the virus’s effect on infected cells, which become enlarged
In this study, ELISpot assays were used as part of the immunogenicity substudy to assess cell-mediated immune responses to the V160 vaccine. Specifically, peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from a subset of participants were collected and tested for their response to various CMV antigens, such as immediate-early protein-1 (IE1), IE2, glycoprotein B, phosphorylated protein 65 (pp65), and CMV viral lysate. ELISpot Pro: Human IFN-γ (ALP) was used to detect the production of interferon-gamma (IFN-γ), a key indicator of T-cell activation, following stimulation with these peptide pools.
This method provided insights into how the participants' immune systems responded to the vaccine at a cellular level by measuring T-cell reactivity, which complements other assessments like neutralizing antibody titers. The ELISpot assay helped determine whether the vaccine was successfully inducing a cell-mediated immune response, which is crucial for long-term protection against CMV infection.
Mabtech products used in this study