Recent advances in chemokines and chemokine receptors

Chemokines are a superfamily of small cytokine-like molecules which have be en described primarily on the basis of their ability to mediate the migrati on of verious cell types, particularly those of lymphoid origin. The recept ors for these molecules are all seven-transmembrane domain G protein-couple d receptors that have historically been excellent targets for small-molecul e drugs. This fact, coupled with the advent of large-scale DNA database min ing and the recognition that chemokine receptors are also coreceptors for H IV, has driven discovery in this field at a tremendous rate. This process h as included not just an expansion of the number of known chemokines and che mokine receptors, but also a greater appreciation for the variety of functi ons that chemokines are involved in. We review here the molecules that have come from the most recent years of chemokine research as well as many of t he new functions that have been ascribed to them.