Role of chemokines in fungal infections

The production of chemokines at the site of a fungal infection is critical for effective recruitment of leukocytes to that site. Over 40 chemokines an d 20 chemokine receptors have been identified. The most intriguing biologic al property of chemokines is that they often play non-redundant roles in vi vo even though they are highly related, have multiple activities and bind m ultiple chemokine receptors, Almost all of the chemokine studies to date ha ve concentrated on responses to Cryptococcus, Candida, Aspergillus or Pneum ocystic. The role of chemokines in infections caused by fungi such as Histo plasma, Blastomyces, Coccidioides and Paracoccidioides remains to be explor ed. In this review we have summarized what is currently known about the rol e of chemokines during fungal infection, including the influence of these s ignaling proteins on effector cell recruitment and development of cell-medi ated immunity.