Basiliximab is a glycoprotein monoclonal antibody that is produced by recombination technology. It is a chimeric monoclonal antibody, as it is produced from mouse and human cells. Basiliximab is used to prevent rejection of organ transplants (Kapic, 2004). Organ transplant can be the last, best hope for many people suffering from organ failure. One of the greatest challenges involved in organ transplant surgery is the patient’s own immune system attacking the transplanted organ (Issa, 2010). The patients T-cells identify the transplanted organ as an invading pathogen and initiate the body’s immune response to the invasion. This process is known as allorecognition. The patient’s immune system is doing what it was intended to do, which is to fight off what it perceives as an invasion. Unfortunately, the T-cells only differentiate between “self’ and “non-self”. This immune activation towards the transplanted organ often ends in rejection of the organ. Organ rejection can sometimes be treated with immunosuppressive medication. However, suppressing the patient’s immune system is not ideal. One treatment option is the use of monoclonal antibodies such as Basiliximab.

            Basiliximab is an IgG monoclonal antibody, used as an immunosuppressant in organ transplantation (Du, 2010). Basiliximab acts by binding to and blocking the interleukin-2 (IL-2) receptor on the surface of the patients T-cells (Du, 2010). By blocking these receptors, Basiliximab can interrupt the patient’s immune system from attacking a transplanted organ. When the T-cells become activated as part of the body’s response to infection or pathogenic invasion one of the first things they do is multiply (Du, 2010). The T-cells need a signal to multiply. IL-2 provides the T-cells with this signal. By blocking this cell signaling, Basiliximab inhibits T-cell proliferation. By inhibiting their proliferation, the medication impairs the body’s immune response to what it views as an invasion. This inhibition should allow the transplanted organ to thrive. Organ transplantation is many patients last chance at extending their lives. One of the biggest challenges of organ transplantation is rejection. The immune system is very effective at fighting an invading pathogen. Getting the immune system to accept that the transplanted organ is now part of the body and not an invader can be difficult. Basiliximab is one monoclonal antibody treatment that is giving transplant patients a better chance at survival.

                                                            References

Kapic, E., Becic, F., &Kusturica, J. (2004). Basiliximab, mechanism of action and pharmacological properties. Medicinski archiv, 58(6), 373-376

Issa, F., Schiopu, A., & Wood, K.J. (2010). Role of T cells in graft rejection and transplantation tolerance. Expert review of clinical immunology, 6(1), 155-169. https://doi.org.proxy.lib.odu.edu/10.1586/eci.09.64

Du, J., Yang, H., Zhang, D., Wang, J., Guo, H., Peng, B., Guo, Y., & Ding, J. (2010). Structural Basis for the Blockage of IL-2 Signaling by Therapeutic Antibody Basiliximab. Journal of Immunology, 184 (3), 1361–1368. https://doi.org/10.4049/jimmunol.0903178.