Uses for Recombinant Protein Drugs - Biotechnology and Your Health: Pharmaceutical Applications - page 74

IMMUNE SYSTEM DRUGS
The immune system has been a prime area of research for recom-
binant biotechnology drugs, particularly as scientists found clues
to the identity and workings of the cells and proteins of this very
complex system. Like many complicated biological systems, the
immune system has complementary features—systems to speed it
up and others to slow it down. Modern biotechnology exploits both
sides for different purposes. If there is a threat from an infection or
a tumor cell, the goal is to strengthen the immune system. If the
immune system itself is going haywire and mistakenly targeting
the body's own tissues for destruction, as in autoimmune diseases
like rheumatoid arthritis or multiple sclerosis , the goal is to dampen
the system. When a kidney, liver, heart, lung, or other organ is
transplanted from one person to another, the immune system of
the patient receiving the transplant must be controlled so that the
genetically different tissue will not be rejected, its cells attacked and
killed by immune system's cells and proteins because the body
recognizes the transplanted tissue as foreign. Biotechnology methods
have provided several treatments to suppress the immune response
to let the body accept a transplanted organ or to reduce tissue
damage caused by autoimmune diseases.
Stop and Consider
How has the immune system provided the opportunity for so many
biotechnology drugs?
Suppressing the Immune Response
Preventing the Action of T Cells
Muromonab (Orthoclone OKT3 ® ) is a mouse monoclonal antibody
that kills T lymphocytes, cells that are a part of the immune
response. Muromonab, the first monoclonal antibody approved for
use as a drug, is used to treat rejection of a donated kidney, liver, or