Chemokine-directed leukocyte migration is crucial for effective immune and inflammatory responses. Conventional chemokine receptors (cCKRs) directly control cell movement; atypical chemokine receptors (ACKRs) regulate coexpressed cCKRs; and both cCKRs and ACKRs internalize chemokines to limit their abundance in vivo, a process referred to as scavenging. A leukocyte's migratory and chemokine-sca...

Despite successful combined antiretroviral therapy, ∼ 60% of HIV-infected people exhibit HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders (HAND). CCL2 is elevated in the CNS of infected people with HAND and mediates monocyte influx into the CNS, which is critical in neuroAIDS. Many HIV-infected opiate abusers have increased neuroinflammation that may augment HAND. Buprenorphine is used to treat opiate a...

Monocyte chemotactic protein‑1 (MCP‑1/CCL2) is an important immune factor, which may be important in cancer progression by promoting proliferation, invasion, metastasis and the tumor microenvironment. Previous studies have demonstrated that CCL2 affects the proliferation of osteosarcoma cells via the RANKL signaling pathway. However, the underlying mechanisms remain to be elucidated. To investi...

Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) is regarded as the most sensitive biomarker for prostate cancer. Although androgen/androgen receptor (AR) signaling promotes prostate cancer progression, suppression of AR signaling induces chemokine (CC motif) ligand 2 (CCL2), which enables prostate cancer cells to gain metastatic potential. AR-controlled PSA alone may be an unreliable biomarker for patients rec...

C-C chemokine ligand 2 (CCL2) is a chemokine that has been demonstrated to play a pivotal role in prostate cancer tumorigenesis and metastasis. These effects are mediated by the ligand binding to the G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) C-C chemokine receptor 2 (CCR2). It has recently been demonstrated that CCL2 increases Akt phosphorylation in prostate cancer cells, and prevents prostate cancer c...

Atrophic age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is associated with the subretinal accumulation of mononuclear phagocytes (MPs). Their role in promoting or inhibiting retinal degeneration is unknown. We here show that atrophic AMD is associated with increased intraocular CCL2 levels and subretinal CCR2(+) inflammatory monocyte infiltration in patients. Using age- and light-induced subretinal inf...

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) has a high mortality rate despite chemotherapy and transplantation. Both CXCR4/SDF-1 and VLA-4/VCAM1 axes are involved in leukemia protection but little is known about the role of CCL2/CCR2 in AML biology and protection against chemotherapy. We measured CCR2 expression in AML cell lines and primary AML cells by flow cytometry (FCM), real time PCR (RT-PCR) and wester...

The CC chemokine ligand-2 (CCL2) and its receptor CCR2 are essential for monocyte trafficking under inflammatory conditions. However, the mechanisms that determine the intensity and duration of alveolar monocyte accumulation in response to CCL2 gradients in inflamed lungs have not been resolved. To determine the potential role of CCR2-expressing monocytes in regulating alveolar CCL2 levels, we ...

Chronic inflammation is a hallmark of cancer. Inflammatory chemokines, such as C-C chemokine ligand 2 (CCL2), are often present in tumors but their roles in cancer initiation and maintenance are not clear. Here we report that CCL2 promotes mammary carcinoma development in a clinically relevant murine model of breast cancer. Targeted disruption of Ccl2 slowed the growth of activated Her2/neu-dri...

Inflammation has a role in prostate tumorigenesis. Recruitment of inflammatorymonocytes to the tumor site ismediated by C-C chemokine ligand 2 (CCL2) through binding to its receptor CCR2.We hypothesized that androgen could modulate CCL2 expression in hormone-responsive prostate cancer cells and thereby promote recruitment of monocytes. Given the inhibitory effect of broccoli-derived compounds i...