SCREENING ASSAY FOR THE IDENTIFICATION OF IMMUNOSUPPRESSIVE DRUGS

摘要

A method for identifying compounds capable of inducing immunosuppression by inhibiting the CD28 signal transduction pathway and T cell comprises exposing cultured T cells to one or more test compounds. The T cells are obtained from a T cell line which stably incorporates DNA sequence comprising in reading frame an enhancer region responsive to a CD 28-regulated nuclear binding protein and a marker gene. The cells are cultured under conditions which result in activation of both the T cell receptor and the CD28 receptor, resulting in enhanced expression of the marker gene. Test compounds which inhibit expression of the marker gene are considered as candidates for immunosuppressive drugs.