B-lineage acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) may express CD52 and CD20. Alemtuzumab (ALM) and rituximab (RTX) are therapeutic antibodies directed against CD52 and CD20, respectively, but showed limited activity against ALL in clinical trials. The mechanisms for the impaired responses remained unclear. We studied expression of CD52 and CD20 on ALL cells and found that most cases coexpressed CD52...

B cells are important for the development of most autoimmune diseases. B cell depletion immunotherapy has emerged as an effective treatment for several human autoimmune diseases, although it is unclear whether B cells are necessary for disease induction, autoantibody production, or disease progression. To address the role of B cells in a murine model of spontaneous autoimmune thyroiditis (SAT),...

OBJECTIVE The mechanism of action of anti-B cell therapy in multiple sclerosis (MS) is not fully understood. Here, we compared the effect of anti-CD20 therapy on microglial activation in two distinct focal rat models of MS. METHODS The effect of anti-CD20 therapy on lesion formation and extralesional microglial activation was evaluated in the fDTH-EAE (experimental allergic encephalomyelitis)...

The CD20 B-cell differentiation antigen is an attractive target for immunotherapy of B-cell lymphomas. In an experimental lymphoma model, BALB/c mice were immunized with mouse or human CD20 cDNA (mCD20 and hCD20, respectively) or their extracellular domains (minigenes). IFNgamma secretion by CD8+ T cells against CD20 was detected in mice vaccinated with hCD20 or human minigene, indicating that ...

OBJECTIVE CD20 expression was reported at different rates in patients with multiple myeloma. The importance of this B-cell antigen for plasma cells is still unknown. This study aimed to investigate CD20 expression of myeloma cells in bone marrow, and any relationship between the stage of disease, isotype and clinical features. METHODS Sixty-one patients who were admitted to the hematology cli...

Combination chemotherapy regimen incorporating CD20 antibodies are commonly used in the treatment of CD20-positive non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL). Fludarabine phosphate (F-araAMP), cyclophosphamide, and CD20 antibodies (Rituximab) constitute the FCR regimen for treating selected NHL, including aggressive mantle cell lymphoma (MCL). As an alternative to the CD20 antibody, we generated a CD20-targe...

The view that B lymphocytes are pathogenic in diverse pathological settings is supported by the efficacy of B-cell-ablative therapy in lymphoproliferative disorders, autoimmune diseases and graft rejection. Anti-B-cell antibodies (Abs) directed against CD20 have therefore been generated, and of these, rituximab was the first anti-CD20 monoclonal Ab (mAb) to be applied. Rituximab-mediated apopto...

Anti-CD20 monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) have become the mainstay in the treatment of non-Hodgkin's lymphomas and have shown significant activity in patients with B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Antitumor action of these antibodies results from triggering of indirect effector mechanisms of the immune system that include activation of complement-dependent cytotoxicity (CDC), antibody-dependen...

PURPOSE The treatment of primary central nervous system lymphoma (PCNSL) and its subset, primary intraocular lymphoma (PIOL), remains of limited efficiency, and salvage therapies are often used without prior testing in adequate animal models. Most PNCSL/PIOL are aggressive B-cell malignancies. Two animal models that closely mimic the human situation were established to evaluate the efficiency o...

Therapeutic monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) have become one of the fastest growing classes of drugs in recent years and are approved for the treatment of a wide range of indications, from cancer to autoimmune disease. Perhaps the best studied target is the pan B-cell marker CD20. Indeed, the first mAb to receive approval by the Food and Drug Administration for use in cancer treatment was the CD20-...