Activated macrophages are critical in the pathogenesis of RA and showed specifically express a receptor for the vitamin folic acid (FA), folate receptor β (FRβ).
This review provides an overview of these emerging applications in RA by summarizing and discussing properties of FRβ, expression of FRβ in relation to macrophage polarization, FRβ-targeted in vivo imaging modalities, and FRβ-directed drug targeting.
In this study, we evaluate the efficiency of folate-targeted liposomes for specific delivery of siRNA to activated macrophages, key effector cells in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) pathology which specifically express folate receptor β (FRβ).
Selective expression of folate receptor beta and its possible role in methotrexate transport in synovial macrophages from patients with rheumatoid arthritis.
Consistently, FRbeta mRNA levels were highest in synovial tissue extracts and RA monocyte-derived macrophages, but low in peripheral blood T cells and monocytes.
A monoclonal antibody to FR-β accumulates specifically in inflamed lesions of murine inflammatory disease models and successfully treats such models of rheumatoid arthritis and peritonitis.