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Induction of folate receptor type β in a bone marrow engraftment model of acute myelogenous leukemia

Leukemia volume 21, pages 2233–2235 (2007)Cite this article

The glycosyl-phosphatidylinositol-anchored folate receptor (FR) has been widely recognized as a potential target for the selective delivery of therapeutic agents to pathological tissues.1 This is because of the narrow tissue specificity of FR expression in normal tissues, its restricted expression at the luminal surface of epithelial cells that is inaccessible to the circulation, the ability of the receptor to bind and internalize both small and particulate chemical conjugates of folic acid and the ability of the receptor to mediate various types of immunotherapy. The α subtype of FR has served as a therapeutic target in many promising pre-clinical and clinical studies of carcinomas, whereas FRβ expressed in activated macrophage has proven to be a promising target in the treatment of inflammatory diseases.2

We have previously reported that the expression of FRβ is limited to the myelomonocytic lineage and that its expression is increased during neutrophil maturation and during the activation of macrophage;3, 4 however, among normal hematopoietic cells, only the receptor expressed in activated macrophage is functional in having the ability to bind folate.4, 5 FRβ is also expressed in a functional form in approximately 70% of acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) in which it is frequently coexpressed with CD34.6 These observations suggest that FRβ is a potential target for drug delivery to AML cells, but prospects of its clinical utility are limited by the variable and the frequently low expression of the receptor in the leukemic cells of AML patients.6

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by NIH RO1 Grant CA080183 to MR and Grant CA095673 to RJL. MR also received support from a Harold and Helen McMaster endowment.

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  1. B W Blaser and M Gonit: These authors contributed equally to this work

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Comprehensive Cancer Center, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA

    B W Blaser, M Guimond & R J Lee

  2. Department of Biochemistry and Cancer Biology, Medical University of Ohio, Toledo, OH, USA

    M Gonit, H Qi, A Shatnawi & M Ratnam

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  1. B W Blaser
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  2. M Gonit
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  7. M Ratnam
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Correspondence to M Ratnam.

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Blaser, B., Gonit, M., Qi, H. et al. Induction of folate receptor type β in a bone marrow engraftment model of acute myelogenous leukemia. Leukemia 21, 2233–2235 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.leu.2404786

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