Mimotope Vaccination For Epitope-specific Induction Of Anti-CD20 Antibodies

CD20 is a nonglycosylated phosphoprotein (33kD to 37 kD) expressed by greater than 95% of normal and neoplastic B-cells. The CD20 gene is expressed on the surface of B-cells during various stages of differentiation, from pre-B-cell development to terminally differentiated plasma cells. For this reason, it has been used as one of the most reliable markers of the B-cell lineage.Because the majority of human B cell-lineage malignancies express CD20, it may be a tumor target for immunotherapy of B-cell lymphomas. It has been demonstrated that anti-CD20 monoclonal antibodies (mAb) were effective in the treatment of some types of tumors. Rituximab (Rituxan~? IDEC-C2B8), a chimeric mAb directed against CD20, has been used for treatment of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) and other autoimmune diseases. However, Rituximab, like other mAbs, has disadvantages in that Ab therapy is expensive and has to be repeatedly administered for long periods of time.Active vaccination against self-molecules may be a promising next step in drug development as they may produce ongoing immune responses, avoid...