Sequential Prodrug Strategy To Target and Eliminate ACPA-Selective Autoreactive B Cells.

ABSTRACT: Autoreactive B cells are thought to play a pivotal role in many autoimmune diseases. Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease affecting ∼1% of the Western population and is hallmarked by the presence of anticitrullinated proteins antibodies (ACPA) produced by autoreactive B cells. We intend to develop a method to target and selectively eliminate these autoreactive B cells using a sequential antigen prodrug targeting strategy. As ACPA-expressing B cells are thought to play essential roles in RA-disease pathogenesis, we used this B cell response as a prototype to analyze the feasibility to generate a construct consisting of a biologically silenced, that is, blocked, antigen connected to a cytotoxic prodrug. Blocking of the antigen is considered relevant as it is anticipated that ci

SUBMITTER: Lelieveldt LPWM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6282105 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature