Selective elimination of autoreactive lymphocytes with immunotoxins

A variety of diseases are the result of identifiable cell types entering an abnormal state of development in which they escape existing mechanisms that regulate their growth or other functional activities. A variety of investigators interested in eliminating cells that have undergone malignant transformation have devised immunotherapeutic approaches based on the construction of hybrid molecules composed of highly toxic biological poisons covalently coupled with antibodies specific for membrane antigens expressed selectively by tumor cell targets. This strategy can be further exploited to eliminate any target cell with defined, selectively expressed membrane antigens. The following discussion describes possible uses of such an approach for achieving selective cytotoxicity of lymphocytes with undesirable immunoreactivities, such as those found in autoimmune disease and graft-versus-host disease.