What are chemokine signalling systems doing in the brain?

摘要

What are chemokine receptors and ligands doing in the brain? There are 40-50 chemokine ligands, small secreted proteins of 60-100 amino acids. About 20 chemokine receptors exist, ordered in distinct families and coupled to G-proteins. One might think these signalling molecules, which act to attract migrating cells, have a uniquely pathological role in neurodegenerative diseases or to mediate inflammatory responses. Their functions however, seem likely to be wider than that (Rostene et al. 2007; Guyon et al. 2008). Certainly, chemokine signalling contributes to inflammatory responses by attracting cells of the immune system to regions of infection or damage in the brain. But chemokines are also involved in other processes involving cell motility including the control of neuronal migration during brain development (Tiveron & Cremer, 2008) and also the recruitment of endothelial progenitor cells to form blood vessels during cerebral angiogenesis.