To remove restrictions on technologies of detecting, monitoring, and reversing immunosuppression and disease, such as cancer, of which the feature is generally brought about by the immunosuppression.
A method for determining a level of criticalness in the immunosuppression comprises measuring a level of at least one kind of selected TCR subunit protein or a protein in a T-lymphocyte signal transduction pathway, or a pattern of an NF-kB/rel system, and comparing the measured level or pattern with a level or pattern of an organism not having the immunosuppression, wherein the method utilizes a change in the level of the TCR subunit protein or in the T-lymphocyte signal transduction pathway, because a soluble immunosuppressive factor which exists in serum obtained from a mammal having a tumor is related to the change. The method is useful for confirming that T-lymphocytes of a patient are activated to such an extent that immunotherapy is applied to the patient and identifying a medicament which causes the immunosuppression or a medicament which reverses the immunosuppression. When the immunosuppressive factor is isolated and combined with the level of the expression of the protein, the factor is useful for suppressing immune reaction in case of, for example, organ transplantation.
MIZOGUCHI HIROMOTO
O'SHEA JOHN J
LONGO DAN L
LOEFFLER CYNTHIA M
GHOSH PARITOSH
YOUNG HOWARD A
MIZOGUCHI HIROMOTO
O'SHEA JOHN J
LONGO DAN L
LOEFFLER CYNTHIA M
GHOSH PARITOSH
YOUNG HOWARD A
Arihara Koichi
Matsushima Tetsuo