Figure 3

In vitro expansion of thawed cells increases the magnitude and breadth of HIV and EBV specific responses: Thawed PBMC from 12 individuals were tested against HIV and EBV peptide pools (n = 7 subjects) or against EBV peptide pools only (n = 5). Cells were used either directly after thawing or after thawing and a subsequent two-week in vitro expansion using the anti-CD3 mAb 12F6. A) The breadth of the detected responses (number of peptide pools reacting) and B) the total magnitude (sum of all positive peptide pools) is compared between the two cell preparation using the non-parametric Wilcoxon matched pairs test. C) PBMC from 5 EBV infected individuals were used either directly after isolation of after a two-week in vitro expansion or as frozen/thawed cells with and without in vitro expansion, and compared for the breadth (number of pools recognized) and D) total magnitude of the EBV specific responses.