摘要 |
This invention provides a method for inhibiting a proinflammatory response in a suitable cell mixture, by administering to the mixture an effective amount of an immunosuppressive agent which acts to inhibit the proinflammatory activity of FasL. In some embodiments, an effective amount of FasL is coadministered with the immunosuppressive agent. The method can be practiced in vitro, ex vivo or in vivo. This invention also provides a method of inhibiting a FasL-mediated proinflammatory response in a subject, comprising administering to the subject an effective amount of an immunosuppressive agent that specifically inhibits the immunostimulatory effect of FasL. The immunosuppressive agent can be any agent which inhibits the immunostimulatory function of Fas. Such agents include, but are not limited to anti-sense molecules that inhibit endogenous FasL expression, soluble Fas receptors or variant thereof, ribozymes that inhibit the endogenous expression of FasL, drugs that inhibit FasL signalling, agents that induce the endogenous expression of TGF- beta , such as cyclosporin or thrombospondin 1, polynucleotides coding for an immunosuppressive agent such as TGF- beta , or TGF- beta protein or polypeptide. This invention further provides a method for identifying agents which modulate FasL stimulation of a proinflammatory response. |