Abstract
As checkpoint inhibitor immunotherapies gain traction among cancer researchers and clinicians, the need grows for assays that can definitively phenotype patient immune cells. Herein, we present an 8-color flow cytometry panel for lineage and immune checkpoint markers and validate it using healthy human donor peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). Flow cytometry data was generated on a BD LSR Fortessa and supported by Luminex multiplex soluble immunoassay. Our data showed significant variation between donors at both baseline and different stages of activation, as well as a trend in increasing expression of checkpoint markers on stimulated CD4+ and CD8+ T-cells with time. Soluble immune checkpoint quantification assays revealed that LAG-3, TIM-3, CTLA-4, and PD-1 soluble isoforms are upregulated after stimulation. This 8-color flow cytometry panel, supported here by soluble immunoassay, can be used to identify and evaluate immune checkpoints on T-lymphocytes in cryopreserved human PBMC samples. This panel is ideal for characterizing checkpoint expression in clinical samples for which cryopreservation is necessary.