| abstract |
A method and compound for suppressing an immune response in a mammalian subject, for the treatment or prevention of an autoimmune condition or transplantation rejection are disclosed. The compound is an antisense oligonucleotide analog compound having a targeting sequence complementary to a preprocessed CTLA 4 mRNA region identified by SEQ ID NO: 22 in SEQ ID NO: 1, spanning the splice junction between intron 1 and exon 2 of the preprocessed mRNA of the subject. The compound is effective, when administered to a subject, to form within host cells, a heteroduplex structure (i) composed of the preprocessed CTLA 4 mRNA and the oligonucleotide compound, (ii) characterized by a Tm of dissociation of at least 45°C, and (iii) resulting in an increased ratio of processed mRNA encoding ligand independent CTLA 4 to processed mRNA encoding full length CTLA 4. |