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Method Article

An In Vitro Technique to Stimulate Lymphocytes via Pathogenic Bacteria

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July 8th, 2025

In This Article

Abstract

Source: Dousha, L., et al. Assessing Respiratory Immune Responses to Haemophilus Influenzae. J. Vis. Exp. (2021)

This video demonstrates an in vitro technique to stimulate lymphocytes via non-typeable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHi) and to assess the immune response. Incubating isolated peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) with NTHi causes the bacterial cells to stimulate T lymphocytes, leading to cytokine production. Upon inhibiting the secretion of cytokines, immunofluorescence staining is performed to detect the accumulated intracellular cytokines in stimulated T lymphocytes.

Protocol

1. Antigenic preparation

NOTE: Three different antigenic preparations can be used to assess the immune response to Hi. These are 1) a subcellular component (typically from the bacterial cell wall); 2) killed and inactivated bacteria; and 3) live bacteria. Determine the use of each antigenic preparation prior to the initiation of any experiments.

  1. Subcellular components
    1. Obtain subcellular components from sources, including commercial preparations, in-house developed components, and/or from other investigators.
      NOTE: Subcellular components usually from the bacte....

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Results

Flow cytometry gating strategy diagram; identifying CD45+, CD3+, CD4+, and CD8+ cell populations.
Figure 1: Cytokine production in lung tissue. Cells are first analyzed for their expression of the leukocyte marker CD45 (A) using flow cytometry. This population is then analyzed further for CD3 expression (B) and CD4/CD8.......

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Disclosures

No conflicts of interest declared.

Materials

List of materials used in this article
NameCompanyCatalog NumberComments
Ammonium chlorideSigma Aldrich213330
BrefeldinSigma AldrichB6542
CD28Thermofisher16-0289-81
CD49dThermofisher534048
SaponinSigma Aldrich8047152

Tags

Lymphocyte StimulationPeripheral Blood Mononuclear CellsHaemophilus InfluenzaeFlow CytometryIntracellular Cytokine DetectionGolgi-Blocking AgentT Lymphocyte ActivationImmunofluorescence StainingAntigen PresentationCytokine Secretion Inhibition