Zeiss ELISPOT Software Speeds Up Vaccine Research

Software designed to speed up tumour, AIDS and vaccine research is being released by Carl Zeiss. The new KS ELISPOT application combines with various Zeiss microscope systems to make Elispot reading faster, more sensitive and more convenient for immunologists, oncologists and pharmacologists and also enables fluorescence Elispot evaluation.

The KS ELISPOT compact based around the Zeiss Stemi 2000 C stereomicroscopes will read and evaluate the results of a 96-well microplate in less than four minutes and is ideally suited to the routine laboratory. For the research laboratory, the Axio Imager based KS ELISPOT will distinguish spots as small as two microns and, combined with the AxioCam camera and suitable filters, enables fluorescence Elispot evaluation.

Whether in normal illumination or fluorescence mode, the new software allows users to set up convenient shortcuts to established operating parameters rather than searching through a series of drop-down menus. For instance, opening the configuration panel and setting the exposure time of the camera is a single mouse click. A neutral frame can be added to single well images to improve spot recognition at the periphery. Errors are also reduced with a facility that stops the AxioCam camera imaging in the reduced-resolution binning mode and re-evaluation of stored images can also be blocked to prevent unintentional or unauthorised changes. Finally, KS ELISPOT software has been designed to integrate seamlessly with the Zeiss imaging suite, AxioVision 4.6.

ELISPOT (Enzyme-linked immunosorbent spot) is a highly sensitive version of the ELISA immunoassay used routinely for monitoring immune responses in humans and animals. Originally developed to enumerate B cells secreting antigen-specific antibodies, ELISPOT has been adapted for various tasks, especially the identification and enumeration of cytokine-producing cells at the single cell level where they allow visualisation of the secretory product of individual activated or responding cells. Because each spot represents a single reactive cell, ELISPOT provides both qualitative (type of immune protein) and quantitative (number of responding cells) information. Limits of detection are below 1/100,000 rendering the assay uniquely useful for monitoring antigen-specific responses, applicable to a wide range of areas of immunology research, including cancer, transplantation, infectious disease, and vaccine development.