Differential regulation of gene expression following CD40 activation of leukemic compared to healthy B cells.

It is possible to differentiate malignant from healthy cells and to classify diseases based on identification of specific gene expression profiles. We hypothesized that gene expression profiling could also be used to identify differential activation of healthy and malignant cells, and as a model for this, we examined the molecular sequelae of CD40 activation of healthy and B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) cells. Hierarchical clustering analysis of gene expression signatures grouped samples by CD40 activation status and further subclassified CD40-activated CLL cells from healthy B cells.

Cytotoxic T cell responses against immunoglobulin in malignant and normal B cells: implications for tumor immunity and autoimmunity.

There is compelling evidence in murine model systems and from human clinical trials that immunotherapy approaches can induce immune responses against tumors. The idiotypic determinants (Id) of the rearranged immunoglobulin proteins of malignant B cells were the first tumor-specific antigens to be recognized and provide a target of an immune mediated response against malignant B cells. Id was thought of as not only tumor-specific but also patient-specific since every patient's malignant B cell clone expresses a unique sequence that is determined by the third complementary determinant regions (CDRIII) of the Id.