Patent ID: 8771971

Claim:
A method for determining the function of a selected subset of lymphocytes, comprising: contacting a sample containing subsets of lymphocytes with a stimulating agent configured to activate at least one selected subset of lymphocytes; contacting the sample with an isolation agent that specifically binds said stimulated selected subset of lymphocytes, wherein the isolation agent is coated onto magnetic beads of one to five microns and wherein the stimulating agent used to activate at least one selected subset of lymphocytes is the same agent as the isolation agent used to specifically bind the selected subset of lymphocytes; separating from the remainder of the sample, said selected subset of activated lymphocytes, which are bound to said isolation agent; and measuring cells from the separated subset of activated lymphocytes for functional activity, gene expression, or lymphocyte subset-specific activation marker, wherein the measurement is compared with that from unstimulated lymphocytes.