BioCentury
ARTICLE | Cover Story

Moving Velcade into Lupus

June 19, 2008 7:00 AM UTC

Memory B cells and short- and long-lived plasma cells secrete autoantibodies that are thought to be at the root of lupus.1,2 Short-lived plasma cells can be targeted indirectly by blocking B cell activation, but that approach has been disappointing, as illustrated by the recent failure of B cell-depleting antibody Rituxan rituximab in a Phase II/III lupus trial. Long-lived plasma cells have remained therapeutically intractable.3

A paper in Nature Medicine indicates that Velcade bortezomib might offer a therapeutic option in lupus, as the small molecule proteasome inhibitor depletes both short- and long-lived plasma cells. Academic and company researchers are concerned about potential side effects, however, because a proteasome inhibitor may not be sufficiently selective to target only autoantibody-producing plasma cells...