Figure 1.
Bio-assay simplification. (a) Schematic of the simplification process for the ex-vivo stimulated cytokine release assay. Stimulations were performed as described in (I–III). (b) The left column (I) shows TNF-α release from a defined number of cells (105 cells in 1 ml). The middle and right columns show TNF-α release from an undefined number of cells concentrated from a defined volume with (II) or without (III) prior centrifugation. In 3 patients insufficient cell number prevented stimulation of a defined number of cells, and in one patient this limitation permitted completion of only the 4 h stimulation condition.