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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2017 Mar 1.
Published in final edited form as: J Am Chem Soc. 2016 May 3;138(19):6076–6094. doi: 10.1021/jacs.6b02954

Figure 2. Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) as a useful test case for immune editing.

Figure 2

A. Cartoon depiction of the defects in B cell maturation observed for CLL B cells. This results in a lack of plasma cells that produce antibodies corresponding to the CLL B cell receptor (BCR). B. Left: Current drugs, such as Rituximab (green antibody) target B cell-restricted receptors such as CD20 and recruit immune effector functions (represented by the skull and crossbones) to kill the cells displaying this receptor at a sufficient density. This strategy eliminates all B cells. Right: An alternative would be to devise a synthetic molecule (blue square) capable of binding selectively to the antigen-binding site of the CLL BCR, which is not found on any other cell. Delivery of a toxin or some molecule that recruits immune effector functions (blue circle) would result in destruction of only the pathogenic B cells without compromising the ability of the immune system to respond to infections.