Patent ID: 7129037

Claim:
A method of assessing cytotoxic T lymphocyte activity comprising: a) providing an antigen presenting dendritic cell prepared by contacting the dendritic cell with an apoptotic cell expressing an antigen or an apoptotic cell fragment, bleb, or body containing an antigen, wherein the apoptotic cell is shown to be apoptotic by a procedure selected from the group consisting of Annexin V staining, propidium iodide staining, DNA laddering, and staining with dUTP and terminal transferase (TUNEL staining), wherein said contacting is for a time sufficient to allow said antigen to be internalized by the dendritic cell, and wherein said apoptotic cell expressing or containing said antigen has been induced in vitro to become apoptotic prior to exposure to the dendritic cell; b) exposing the antigen presenting dendritic cell of step a) to a population of T lymphocytes to be assayed for their ability to exhibit killer cell activity; and c) assaying the cytotoxic activity of the T lymphocytes exposed to said antigen presenting dendritic cell.