Patent ID: 7807377

Claim:
A method of isolating antigen-specific T cells, comprising: a) providing to a sample comprising T cells capable of binding a specific antigen of interest a population of artificial APC's comprising said antigen of interest bound to an MHC component to form an MHC antigen component, said artificial APC further comprising a liposome comprising a lipid bilayer, wherein the lipid bilayer is comprised of neutral phospholipids and cholesterol; at least one GM-1 ganglioside molecule disposed in the lipid bilayer; a cholera toxin beta subunit bound to a GM-1 ganglioside molecule; wherein said MHC:antigen component is bound to the cholera toxin beta subunit; and an accessory molecule that can stabilize an interaction between a T cell receptor and the MHC:antigen component; b) allowing said artificial APC to bind to T cells specific for said antigen of interest to form a T cell/artificial APC complex; and c) isolating the antigen-specific T cell from the T cell/aAPC complex thereby isolating an antigen-specific T cell.