N eural guidance cues are attracting attention in athero-sclerosis. In this issue of Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology, Wanschel et al 1 add yet another neu-ral guidance molecule, Semaphorin 3E, to the growing list of neural guidance cues that may contribute to atherosclerosis. Indeed, this team of scientists, led by Kathryn Moore at New York University, has in the last year im...

The chemokine receptor CCR7 is a well-established homing receptor for dendritic cells and T cells. Interactions with its ligands, CCL19 and CCL21, facilitate priming of immune responses in lymphoid tissue, yet CCR7-independent immune responses can be generated in the presence of sufficient antigen. In these studies, we investigated the role of CCR7 signaling in the generation of protective immu...

BACKGROUND Postoperative ileus is characterized by a transient impairment of the gastrointestinal motility after abdominal surgery. The intestinal inflammation, triggered by handling of the intestine, is the main factor responsible for the prolonged dysmotility of the gastrointestinal tract. Secondary lymphoid organs of the intestine were identified as essential components in the dissemination ...

Introduction: Chemokine receptors are found on the surface of stem cells. There have been 19 distinct chemokine receptors described in mammals. Chemokines are major players in migration and homing. Therefore, changes in their levels or function can help us to increase the migratory potential of these cells. Valproic acid differs in structure from other drugs in common use. The way in which Va...

Macrophages are considered as main cellular target encountered by the facultative intracellular bacterium Salmonella typhimurium. However, in orally infected mice these pathogens are first internalized by dendritic cells (DCs) that are located in the subepithelial dome of Peyer's patches. Moreover, DCs can penetrate the intestinal epithelium to sample bacteria. Here, we examined the interaction...

CCL19 and CCL21 are endogenous agonists for the seven-transmembrane receptor CCR7. They are equally active in promoting G protein stimulation and chemotaxis. Yet, we find that they result in striking differences in activation of the G protein-coupled receptor kinase (GRK)/ss-arrestin system. CCL19 leads to robust CCR7 phosphorylation and beta-arrestin2 recruitment catalyzed by both GRK3 and GRK...

The chemokine receptor CCR4 mediates CCL17- and CCL22-driven chemotaxis of Th2 cells into the skin patients with atopic dermatitis (AD). RPT193 is an oral inhibitor that has been developed to treat AD other allergic inflammatory diseases. safety efficacy as monotherapy for moderate-to-severe was previously described in a placebo-controlled, double-blinded Phase 1 study. Here, we present periphe...

The chemokines CCL21 and CCL19, and cell bound TNF family ligand lymphotoxin beta (LTbeta), have been associated with numerous chronic inflammatory diseases. A general role in chronic inflammatory diseases cannot be assumed however; in the case of allergic inflammatory disease, CCL21/CCL19 and LTbeta have not been associated with the induction, recruitment, or effector function of Th2 cells nor...

Malignant lymphocyte migration into lymph nodes is an important aspect of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), yet little is known about the processes involved. Here we demonstrate that CLL cells migrate across vascular endothelium in response to at least 3 chemokines, namely, CCL21, CCL19, and CXCL12. Moreover, transendothelial cell migration (TEM) in response to CCL21 and CCL19 was significant...