The effect of immunosuppressive drugs on T cell signalling pathways: non-redundant steps in the T cell response.
Clinical immunosuppression must balance the therapeutic goal of reducing host defence with the risk of catastrophic infection or malignancy, plus the non-immune effects of the existing agents. A variety of new agents are now available which improve the chances of achieving these immunosuppressive objectives. Others are promising but remain unproven in the clinic. The general principles of immunosuppression are also becoming clearer, and we are developing more rational approaches. The effects of immunosuppressives on the T cell response, plus studies of the genetic errors which create blocks in the immune response, can now be combined to create an increasingly complete picture of non-redundant, semiredundant, and redundant steps in the T cell response, and how the immunosuppressive agents affect these steps.
Halloran
P F
PF
Department of Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.
D000818:Animals; D006084:Graft Rejection / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D000949:Histocompatibility Antigens Class II / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D016377:Organ Transplantation; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000187:drug effects*; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000187:drug effects / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*
D000949:Histocompatibility Antigens Class II; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents