CytoStim is an antibody-based reagent that acts similarly to a superantigen but independently of certain Vβ domains of the T cell receptor (TCR). It causes activation of T cells by binding to the TCR and crosslinking it to an MHC molecule of an antigen-presenting cell. Upon stimulation with CytoStim, CD4
+ and CD8
+ T cells start to secrete cytokines or up-regulate activation markers on their cell surface within a few hours. CytoStim is suitable for rapid stimulation of CD4
+ and CD8
+ T cells in fresh peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), whole blood, or other leukocyte-containing single-cell suspensions from tissues. It can be used instead of SEB as a positive control in antigen-specific T cell stimulation assays or intracellular cytokine staining experiments to detect cytokine or activation marker expression.
