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NI-0701 is a fully human mAb that binds specifically and selectively to the human chemokine, RANTES (also known as CCL5) and inhibits the interaction of RANTES with its cognate receptors and glycosaminoglycans, thereby neutralizing RANTES activity. RANTES is produced and released in response to inflammatory processes by a wide variety of cell types including lymphocytes, macrophages, fibroblasts, platelets, smooth muscle, endothelial, and epithelial cells. RANTES is responsible for pleiotropic effects due to its promiscuous ability to act through multiple receptors, including CCR1, CCR3, and CCR5. As RANTES causes the recruitment and activation of T-cells, eosinophils, monocytes/macrophages, basophils and mast cells, animal models and patient tissues associate RANTES with the pathology of asthma, allergic rhinitis, arthritis, atherosclerosis, inflammatory bowel disease, ischemia/reperfusion injury, multiple sclerosis, sarcoidosis, systemic lupus erythematosis and organ rejection following transplant. Furthermore, certain cancer cells may use RANTES to grow and form metastatises.
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