Ellen S. Vitetta

I am immunologist who has studied the biology of normal and malignant B cells. In the 1970s, we described the biochemistry of the antigen-specific IgM receptor on B cells and then identified a second receptor, IgD. We studied the expression of these two receptors during ontogeny and based on these results, suggested different roles for the two receptors in positive versus negative signaling of B cells. In the 1980s, we described a soluble T cell factor, called interleukin-4, which induced B cells to switch from the expression of IgM to IgG. More recently, we have been involved in using monoclonal antibodies attached to toxins (immunotoxins) to target and kill malignant B cells in mice and in humans. These immunotoxins are now undergoing testing in advanced clinical trials in patients with non-Hodgkin's and Hodgkin's lymphoma.