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Updated: May 12, 2026
Induction of Alloantigen-specific Anergy in Human Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells by Alloantigen Stimulation with Co-stimulatory Signal Blockade
Published on: March 14, 2011
Alefacept promotes co-stimulation blockade based allograft survival in nonhuman primates
Tim A Weaver1, Ali H Charafeddine, Avinash Agarwal
1Transplantation Branch, National Institute of Diabetes, Digestive and Kidney Diseases, US National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.
Abstract:
Memory T cells promote allograft rejection particularly in co-stimulation blockade-based immunosuppressive regimens. Here we show that the CD2-specific fusion protein alefacept (lymphocyte function-associated antigen-3-Ig; LFA -3-Ig) selectively eliminates memory T cells and, when combined with a co-stimulation blockade-based regimen using cytotoxic T lymphocyte antigen-4 (CTLA-4)-Ig, a CD80- and CD86-specific fusion protein, prevents renal allograft rejection and alloantibody formation in nonhuman primates. These results support the immediate translation of a regimen for the prevention of allograft rejection without the use of calcineurin inhibitors, steroids or pan-T cell depletion.
