METHOD OF RESTORING A FUNCTIONAL PROTEIN IN A TISSUE BY CELL TRANSPLANTATION

摘要

The present invention relates to a method for improving the success of a transplantation which at least addresses to one of the most serious problems: transplant survival. The method comprises the steps of transplanting donor cells in a patient in need for such a transplantation, the transplantation being made in the presence of an agent blocking the interaction between a ICAM-1 molecule located at the membrane surface of the donor cell and a LFA-1 molecule located at the membrane surface of the patient's leucocytes, which blocking increases the viability of said transplanted donor cells by at least about four fold. The agent blocking this interaction is an anti-LFA-1 antibody which is injected to the host at the time of transplantation or an anti-ICAM-1 antibody fragment which is not capable of fixing complement, such as a F(ab)2 fragment.