The use of anti-CD4 antibodies and down-regulatory mechanism of CD4 antigen in Th1/Th2 polarization detection

To investigate the possibility of two commercial CD4 monoclonal antibodies,13B8.2 and S3.5,respectively,to be used for gating in detecting Th1/Th2 polarization,and analyze the expression profile of CD4 antigen after stimulation of PMA,Ionomycin and BFA on peripheral blood cells separately or combinationally with flow cytometry method.The results showed that clone 13B8.2 could be used as the gating antibody of CD4 antigen in the determination of Th1/Th2 polarization.The combinational stimulation of PMA and Ionomcycin on peripheral blood cells led to significant decrease of CD4 antigen,however,PMA did not by itself.It was also concluded that BFA might partially inhibit the endocytosis and subsequent degradation of membrane CD4 antigen induced by PMA and Ionomycin.