Suppression of human T-cell activation by a novel anti-human CD3 antibody

The agonistic anti-human CD3 antibody , OKT-3, has been used to control acute transplant rejection. The in vivo administration of OKT-3 was previously shown to induce the partial depletion of T cells and anergy in the remaining CD4+ T cells. However, this therapy is also associated with the systemic release of several cytokines, which leads to a series of adverse side effects. We established a novel anti-human CD3 Ab, 20-2b2 (#1 abs), which recognized a close, but different determinant on the CD3 molecule from that recognized by OKT3. 20-2b2 was non-mitogenic for human CD4+ T cells, could inhibit the activation of T cells in vitro, and induced T cell anergy in in vivo experiments using humanized mice. Cytokine release in humanized mice induced by the administration of 20-2b2 was significantly less than that induced by OKT-3. Our results indicated that the CD3 molecule is still an attractive, effective, and useful target for the modulation of T cell responses. The establishment of other Abs that recognize CD3, even though the determinant recognized by those Abs may be close to or different from that recognized by OKT-3, may represent a novel approach for the development of safer Ab therapies using anti-CD3 Abs, in addition to the modification of OKT-3 in terms of the induction of cytokine production.

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Shiheido H, Chen C, Hikida M, Watanabe T, Shimizu J