Abstract: The invention provides methods of preventing acute rejection following renal or other solid organ transplantation. The methods entail administering, e.g., intravenously, to a transplant patient a monoclonal antibody which binds to the p55 subunit of the human interleukin-2 (IL-2) receptor of human T lymphocytes. The monoclonal antibody is preferably a chimeric or humanized antibody that blocks binding of IL-2 to the IL-2 receptor. In some methods, a single dose of about 1 mg/kg of antibody is administered about every other week, commencing immediately prior to transplantation and continuing until 8 weeks after transplantation.