On the way to a better immunosuppressant?
Hagmann, M.
Science 285(5436): 2042
1999
ISSN/ISBN: 0036-8075 PMID: 10523192 Document Number: 500795
In this issue, Anjana Rao and Patrick Hogan of Harvard's Center for Blood Research in Boston and colleagues report on a molecular approach that could result in improved immunosuppressants with fewer side effects in the treatment of graft rejection. At the start of this decade, immunologists discovered that when a foreign antigen, such as on a graft, triggers the immune system's T cells, an intracellular enzyme called calcineurin is activated. The enzyme helps activate a range of genes encoding proteins that accelerate immune cell activities. Today's immunosuppressive drugs block calcineurin but often have serious side effects, such as kidney failure and diabetes. Rao, Hogan, and colleagues describe a compound that inhibits calcineurin more selectively and may cause far fewer side effects.