Targeting the Chemokine System

摘要: The chemokine superfamily consists of small, basic, heparin-binding proteins that play a pivotal role in basal trafficking as well activation and recruitment leukocytes from the circulation to sites inflammation. chemokines are subset cytokine family distinguished other cytokines they activate seven-transmembrane (7TM) G protein-coupled receptors. They large family, with approximately 50 members identified date, for which 19 receptors have been described. is divided structurally into four subfamilies CXC, CC, CX3C C, based on position amino terminal cysteine residues. majority fall CXC or CC groups (also referred α β subclasses respectively), hence most extensively studied. known chemo-kine/receptor pairs depicted Fig. 1, also indicates second division recent advances biology—chemokines either expressed constitutively control homing, inducible, involved Chemokines were generally named according function was such monocyte chemoattractant protein (MCP) neutrophil activating peptide (NAP) but since many concomitantly more than one laboratory, single sequence attributed name. Therefore systematic nomenclature recently adopted (Zlotnik Yoshie 2000) both common names shown 1.