The T cell receptor (TCR)/CD3 complex consists of two variable antigen-recognition receptor chains (TCR-alpha/TCR-beta or TCR-gamma/TCR-delta) that are non-covalently linked to at least four different invariant chains: CD3 gamma, CD3 delta, CD3 epsilon, and the CD3 zeta chain that exists as either a homodimer or as a heterodimer with its splice-variant the CD3 eta chain. The CD3 complex functions to transduce intracellular signals during TCR antigen recognition. CD3 is expressed early in thymocyte development, and on a subset of NK cells. CD3 epsilon is one of at least three invariant proteins that associate with the variable antigen recognition chains of the T cell receptor and function in signal transduction.
Mononuclear cell suspensions are loaded onto T Cell Enrichment Columns containing glass beads coated with Ig and anti-Ig. B cells bind to anti-Ig coated beads by F(ab)-surface Immunoglobulin (Ig) interactions. Monocytes bind to Ig coated beads via Fc interactions. The resulting column eluate contains highly enriched T cell populations.
CD3+ is a universal marker for T cells. Total CD3+ cell recovery ranges between 30% and 50% of initial CD3+ cells loaded. The purity of recovered cells ranges from 85% to 95%. These enriched T cell populations are then available for cell culture, activation studies, phenotyping, immune status monitoring, and flow cytometry.