| abstract |
Conjugates containing as a ligand a chemokine receptor targeting agents, such as chemokines, and a targeted agent, such as a toxin are provided. These conjugates are used to treat inflammatory responses associated with activation, proliferation and migration of immune effector cells, including leukocyte cell types, neutrophiles, macrophages, and eosinophils. The conjugates provided herein are used to lessen or inhibit these processes to prevent or at least lessen the resulting secondary effects. In particular, the conjugates are used to target toxins to receptors on secondary tissue damage-promoting cells. The ligand moiety can be selected to deliver the cell toxin to such secondary tissue damage-promoting cells as mononuclear phagocytes, leukocytes, natural killer cells, dendritic cells, and T and B lymphocytes, thereby suppressing the proliferation, migration, or physiological activity of such cells. Among preferred conjugates are fusion proteins having a chemokine, or a biologically active fragment thereof, as the ligand moiety linked to a cell toxin via a peptide linker of from 2 to about 60 amino acid residues. |