COMPOUNDS FOR DIAGNOSIS AND/OR THERAPY OF TUMOURS

摘要

The invention provides compounds for use in the diagnosis and/or therapy of tumours and/or as an immunosuppressive agent selected from the group consisting of antibodies which bind to IL-4 receptors and IL-4 receptor-binding fragments thereof. A preferred such compound is monoclonal antibody MR6 produced by the hybridoma deposited at the European Collection of Animal Cell Cultures with the accession no. 88033002. The invention also extends to the use of the compounds for in vitro removal of graft-versus-host reactive T-lymphocytes prior to bone marrow transplantation and to a novel protein of molecular weight 200,000 daltons functioning as a receptor for IL-4.