{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,12]],"date-time":"2025-12-12T13:40:58Z","timestamp":1765546858240,"version":"build-2065373602"},"reference-count":41,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,12,30]],"date-time":"2021-12-30T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1640822400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Italian Ministry of Health","award":["RF-2019-12369889"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["RF-2019-12369889"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJMS"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Autoimmune endocrine disorders, such as type 1 diabetes (T1D) and thyroiditis, at present are treated with only hormone replacement therapy. This emphasizes the need to identify personalized effective immunotherapeutic strategies targeting T and B lymphocytes. Among the genetic variants associated with several autoimmune disorders, the C1858T polymorphism of the protein tyrosine phosphatase non-receptor type 22 (PTPN22) gene, encoding for Lyp variant R620W, affects the innate and adaptive immunity. We previously exploited a novel personalized immunotherapeutic approach based on siRNA delivered by liposomes (lipoplexes) that selectively inhibit variant allele expression. In this manuscript, we improved lipoplexes carrying siRNA for variant C1858T by functionalizing them with Fab of Rituximab antibody (RituxFab-Lipoplex) to specifically target B lymphocytes in autoimmune conditions, such as T1D. RituxFab-Lipoplexes specifically bind to B lymphocytes of the human Raji cell line and of human PBMC of healthy donors. RituxFab-Lipoplexes have impact on the function of B lymphocytes of T1D patients upon CpG stimulation showing a higher inhibitory effect on total cell proliferation and IgM+ plasma cell differentiation than the not functionalized ones. These results might open new pathways of applicability of RituxFab-Lipoplexes, such as personalized immunotherapy, to other autoimmune disorders, where B lymphocytes are the prevalent pathogenic immunocytes.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijms23010408","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,12,30]],"date-time":"2021-12-30T21:41:21Z","timestamp":1640900481000},"page":"408","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":8,"title":["Preparation and In Vitro Evaluation of RITUXfab-Decorated Lipoplexes to Improve Delivery of siRNA Targeting C1858T PTPN22 Variant in B Lymphocytes"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"23","author":[{"given":"Andrea","family":"Arena","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Infectivology and Clinical Trials Research Department, Bambino Ges\u00f9 Children\u2019s Hospital, Scientific Institute for Research, Hospitalization and Healthcare (IRCCS), 00146 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8154-3730","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Eugenia","family":"Belcastro","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Infectivology and Clinical Trials Research Department, Bambino Ges\u00f9 Children\u2019s Hospital, Scientific Institute for Research, Hospitalization and Healthcare (IRCCS), 00146 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7899-2359","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Antonella","family":"Accardo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Research Centre on Bioactive Peptides (CIRPeB), Department of Pharmacy, University of Naples Federico II, 80134 Naples, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5255-3668","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Annamaria","family":"Sandomenico","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Biostructures and Bioimaging (IBB), National Research Council (CNR), 80134 Naples, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9413-3124","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Olivia","family":"Pagliarosi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Infectivology and Clinical Trials Research Department, Bambino Ges\u00f9 Children\u2019s Hospital, Scientific Institute for Research, Hospitalization and Healthcare (IRCCS), 00146 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Elisabetta","family":"Rosa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Research Centre on Bioactive Peptides (CIRPeB), Department of Pharmacy, University of Naples Federico II, 80134 Naples, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3249-0003","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Stefania","family":"Petrini","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Confocal Microscopy Core Facility, Research Laboratories, Bambino Ges\u00f9 Children\u2019s Hospital, Scientific Institute for Research, Hospitalization and Healthcare (IRCCS), 00146 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9466-5473","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Libenzio Adrian","family":"Conti","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Confocal Microscopy Core Facility, Research Laboratories, Bambino Ges\u00f9 Children\u2019s Hospital, Scientific Institute for Research, Hospitalization and Healthcare (IRCCS), 00146 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5875-832X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ezio","family":"Giorda","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Research Laboratories, Bambino Ges\u00f9 Children\u2019s Hospital, Scientific Institute for Research, Hospitalization and Healthcare (IRCCS), 00146 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Tiziana","family":"Corsetti","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Unit of Hospital Pharmacy, Bambino Ges\u00f9 Children\u2019s Hospital, Scientific Institute for Research, Hospitalization and Healthcare (IRCCS), 00165 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9527-2353","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Riccardo","family":"Schiaffini","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Diabetes and Growth Pathology Unit, Bambino Ges\u00f9 Children\u2019s Hospital, Scientific Institute for Research, Hospitalization and Healthcare (IRCCS), 00165 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Giancarlo","family":"Morelli","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Research Centre on Bioactive Peptides (CIRPeB), Department of Pharmacy, University of Naples Federico II, 80134 Naples, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3078-9754","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Alessandra","family":"Fierabracci","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Infectivology and Clinical Trials Research Department, Bambino Ges\u00f9 Children\u2019s Hospital, Scientific Institute for Research, Hospitalization and Healthcare (IRCCS), 00146 Rome, 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