A protein known as CD19-ligand (CD19-L) has been discovered as the immune system’s key surveillance system to find and destroy leukemia cells. CD19-L naturally occurs on T-lymphocytes, a type of white blood cell essential to the immune system. The protein binds to the surface of B-lineage leukemia cells and leukemic stem cells, which cause the cancer to expand.
After binding to the leukemia cell, the protein causes the cell to die. The CD19 receptor is found in abundance on leukemia cells in patients with B-lineage ALL but absent on other types of cells, making it an ideal therapeutic target. We have discovered a way to bioengineer CD19-L in soluble form, so it can be infused like a drug to target and destroy CD19-positive leukemic stem cells and leukemic cells that have built up a resistance to chemotherapy.
Since CD19-L binds to CD19 target structure on malignant cells from the vast majority of B-lineage leukemia and lymphoma patients, further development of CD19-L may lead to therapeutic innovation for B-lineage leukemias and lymphomas, including B-lineage acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), the most common form of childhood cancer. Next, we need to confirm that leukemic cell destruction occurs after nontoxic dose levels of the bioengineered protein and evaluate its full potential for selective destruction of leukemic stem cells.
About the Author
Specializing in the treatment of pediatric cancers and leukemia, Dr. Fatih Uckun has published almost 500 scholarly articles and secured more than 80 patents for his various inventions. As a researcher, he focuses on biopharmaceuticals, targeted nanoparticles, molecular targets for fighting cancer, and signal transduction pathways. At present, Dr. Fatih Uckun teaches at the University of South California’s Keck School of Medicine as a Professor in the Department of Pediatrics.
