Analyzing Antigen-specific CD8 T Cells

Antigen-specific CD8 T cells were identified by labeling with D^b/NP₃₆₆ or D^b/PA₂₂₄in house prepared tetramers for 1 h at 4°C (22 (link)). Tetramer staining was followed by surface staining with appropriate antibody cocktails for 20 min at 4°C. Surface markers were stained using following antibodies: anti-CD8 (clone 53-6.7, BioLegend), anti-CD90.2 (clone 30-H12, BioLegend), anti-CD45.2 (clone 104, BioLegend), anti-CD103 (clone 2E7, BioLegend), anti-CD69 (clone H.12F3, BioLegend), anti-KLRG-1 (clone 2F1, eBioscience, San Diego, CA, USA), anti-CD127 (clone A7R34, BioLegend), anti-CX3CR1 (clone SA011F11, BioLegend), anti-CXCR3 (clone CXCR3-173, BioLegend), and anti-CD49a (clone Ha31/8, BD Pharmingen). Intracellular cytokine staining was performed using anti-IFNγ (clone XMG1.2, BioLegend), anti-TNF (clone MP6-XT22, BioLegend), and anti-IL2 (clone JES6-5H4, BioLegend) antibodies. Proliferation of CD8 T cells was assessed by intracellular staining with anti-Ki67 (clone MOPC-21, BD Pharmingen). Flow cytometry data were acquired using LSRFortessa (Becton Dickinson, Rutherford, NY, USA) and analyzed using the FlowJo software (Tree Star Inc., Ashland, OR, USA).