Defining Specificity within the ELISpot Assay

The enzyme-linked immune absorbent spot (ELISpot) assay provides important information on the abundance of low frequency immune cells, with an emphasis on the detection of antigen-specific T-cells or B-cells present within a patient. The assay can provide critical information regarding vaccination efficacy, autoimmunity and/or rejection and cytotoxicity.

As we enter an era in which even more therapies emerge for which there are limited specificity controls, it will be important to understand how each specificity assessment can guide our understanding of the assay results. In this Technology Digest, we review assay, donor and antigen specificity within the ELISpot assay.