Lymphocytes: Precursor Frequencies

Heather L Zwickey, National Jewish Medical and Research Center, Denver, Colorado, USA
Terry A Potter, National Jewish Medical and Research Center, Denver, Colorado, USA

Published online: April 2001

DOI: 10.1038/npg.els.0000949

Precursor frequency experiments use limiting dilution analysis to provide an estimate of the number of lymphocytes capable of responding to a particular antigen. They can be used to measure and enhance the frequency of antigen‐specific lymphocytes.

Keywords: precursor frequency; limiting dilution analysis; antigen specific lymphocyte

Figure 1. Precursor frequency of antigen‐specific cytotoxic T cells in a spleen as defined by chromium release assay.
Figure 2. Graphical representation of precursor frequency. The per cent of negative wells is calculated experimentally from the total number of negative wells divided by the total number of wells. The ln of this fraction is then plotted on the y‐axis. The number of cells added to each well at each dilution is plotted on the x‐axis. A linear equation which represents the line is determined. Using this equation, the precursor frequency is calculated for y = −1
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    Lefkovits I and Waldmann H (1984) Limiting dilution analysis of the cells of immune system I. The clonal basis of the immune response. Immunology Today 5: 265–268.
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    Sharrock CEM, Kaminski E and Man S (1990) Limiting dilution analysis of human T cells: a useful clinical tool. Immunology Today 11: 281–286.
    Taswell C (1981) Limiting dilution assays for the determination of immunocompetent cell frequencies I. Data analysis. Journal of Immunology 126: 1614–1619.
    Waldmann H and Lefkovits I (1984) Limiting dilution analysis of the immune system II. What can be learnt? Immunology Today 5: 295–298.

Related Sub-Topics:

Cells of the Immune System | Antigens
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Article Title: Lymphocytes: Precursor Frequencies
 
How to Cite close
Zwickey, Heather L, and Potter, Terry A(Apr 2001) Lymphocytes: Precursor Frequencies. In: eLS. John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Chichester. http://www.els.net [doi: 10.1038/npg.els.0000949]