DNA-dependent targeting of cell nuclei by a lupus autoantibody

Optimizing a lupus autoantibody for targeted cancer therapy.

The specificity of binding by antibodies to target antigens is a compelling advantage to antibody-based cancer therapy, but most antibodies cannot penetrate cells to affect intracellular processes. Select lupus autoantibodies penetrate into cell nuclei, and the potential for application of these antibodies in cancer therapy is an emerging concept. Here, we show that a divalent lupus anti-DNA au...

A nucleolytic lupus autoantibody is toxic to BRCA2-deficient cancer cells

Cancer cells with defects in DNA repair are highly susceptible to DNA-damaging agents, but delivery of therapeutic agents into cell nuclei can be challenging. A subset of lupus autoantibodies is associated with nucleolytic activity, and some of these antibodies are capable of nuclear penetration. We hypothesized that such antibodies might have potential as therapeutic agents targeted towards DN...

A lupus anti-DNA autoantibody mediates autocatalytic, targeted delivery of nanoparticles to tumors

Strategies to target nanoparticles to tumors that rely on surface modification with ligands that bind molecules overexpressed on cancer cells or the tumor neovasculature suffer from a major limitation: with delivery of toxic agents the amount of molecules available for targeting decreases with time; consequently, the efficiency of nanoparticle delivery is reduced. To overcome this limitation, h...

Anti-S Alloantibody Underlying Pan Agglutinating Autoantibody in a Patient of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

Genetic dissection of lupus pathogenesis: a recipe for nephrophilic autoantibodies.

Sle1 and Sle3 are 2 loci that confer susceptibility to lupus nephritis in the NZM2410 strain of mice. Our previous work has shown that B6.NZMc1 mice, congenic for Sle1, exhibit loss of tolerance to chromatin but do not develop any pathogenic autoantibodies or disease. B6.NZMc7 mice, congenic for Sle3, exhibit low-grade polyclonal B- and T-cell activation, elevated CD4/CD8 ratios, and mildly pen...