Experience with milatuzumab, an anti-CD74 antibody against immunomodulatory macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) receptor, for systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE)

Milatuzumab (hLL1) is a humanised IgG1κ antibody that reacts with a cell surface epitope of human CD74, the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class-II associated invariant chain present on antigen-presenting cells (APCs), including B cells and dendritic cells.1 Although initially studied for oncologic malignancies,2–5 dysregulation of APCs may also occur in non-malignant disorders, and several preclinical studies showed that milatuzumab modestly inhibited B cell proliferation, enhanced spontaneous migration, alterations of adhesion molecule expression and chemotaxis important for lymphocyte recruitment,6 and also reduced production of interferon-α in stimulated peripheral blood mononuclear cells isolated from healthy donors and patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) (unpublished results). Migration inhibitory factor (MIF) is a cytokine that activates a multicomponent receptor comprising the CD74 ligand-binding …