Chemokines, chemokine receptors and allergy

Chemokines are a group of cytokines that are responsible for the influx of blood cells, including T and B lymphocytes, monocytes, neutrophils, eosinop hils and basophils, in allergic and other inflammatory conditions. They fun ction as G protein-coupled chemotactic factors which also activate the cell s with which they interact. Certain chemokines function within the afferent arm of the immune system, in which antigen is processed and antibody forma tion initiated, and others are active within the effector pathways of cellu lar immunity and late-phase allergic reactions. Th2 lymphocytes, which are critical for allergy, employ the CC chemokine receptors CCR4 and CCR8 with the ligands thymus- and activation-regulated chemokine (TARC), macrophage-d erived chemokine (MDC) and I-309, respectively. The chemokine receptor CCR3 and ligands monocyte chemoattractant protein (MCP)-3, MCP-4, regulated upo n activation normal T cell expressed and secreted (RANTES) and eotaxins I a nd II are of particular relevance for the recruitment and activation of eos inophils. Th1 reactions depend upon interferon gamma -induced CXC chemokine s interferon-inducible protein (IP)-10, interferon-inducible T cell-alpha c hemoattractant (iTAC) and monokine induced by interferon-gamma (MIG), which bind to chemokine receptor CXCR3. Copyright (C) 2001 S. Karger AG, Basel.