Antimicrobial Chemokines

Antimicrobial Chemokines

Chemokines are best known for their classic leukocyte chemotactic activity, which is critical for directing the immune response to sites of infection and injury. However, recent studies have suggested that at least some chemokines may also interfere with infectious agents directly. Antimicrobial chemokines tend to contain amphipathic alpha helical secondary structure, and broad-spectrum activit...

Structural perspectives on antimicrobial chemokines

Chemokines are best known as signaling proteins in the immune system. Recently however, a large number of human chemokines have been shown to exert direct antimicrobial activity. This moonlighting activity appears to be related to the net high positive charge of these immune signaling proteins. Chemokines can be divided into distinct structural elements and some of these have been studied as is...

Antimicrobial Activities of Chemokines: Not Just a Side-Effect?

The large family of chemoattractant cytokines (chemokines) embraces multiple, in part unrelated functions that go well beyond chemotaxis. Undoubtedly, the control of immune cell migration (chemotaxis) is the single, unifying response mediated by all chemokines, which involves the sequential engagement of chemokine receptors on migrating target cells. However, numerous additional cellular respon...

Chemokines.

Chemokines.

not been systematically examined. Similar clustering has C been observed among genes encoding chemokine receptors. HEMOKINES have recently become the focus of intense interest and discussion. This has occurred, in One exception to the CC/CXC rule is lymphotactin, a part, because of an enlarging view of what chemokines do. potent attractant for T lymphocytes, but not monocytes. As recently as 2 ...