Studies have demonstrated the role of CD4 T cells in allergic and autoimmune disease, but the search for a means to selectively target and eliminate the cells responsible has proved difficult. On page 142, Casares et al. describe a method for delivering drugs to antigen-specific T cells. They engineered a construct to target and destroy specific T cells by attaching the drug doxorubicin to recombinant MHC class II–peptide chimeras on an immunoglobulin scaffold. They demonstrated that the construct could bind to and deliver the drug to T cells that specifically recognized the peptide–MHC complex, thereby killing the cells. Delivery of the construct in transgenic mice reduced the frequency and proliferation of T cells specific for the peptide–MHC complex. The work has potential application for drug delivery to specific pathogenic T cells.
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Sinclair, M. Antigen-specific T cells targeted. Nat Biotechnol 19, 100 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1038/84311
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/84311