Fractalkine/CX3CL1: a potential new target for inflammatory diseases.

摘要

Chemokines are small, chemoattractant proteins that recruit inflammatory cells at the site of inflammation. Because of this, chemokines and their receptors are considered to be therapeutic targets in chronic inflammatory disorders (1). Humans have more than fifty distinct chemokines, small (8-10 kDa) heparin-binding proteins that were identified by their chemotactic activity in bone marrow-derived cells (2). Broadly based on the findings, two types of chemokines exist: 1) inflammatory chemokines, which recruit leukocytes in response to physiological stress, and 2) homeostatic chemokines, which account for basal leukocyte trafficking and the formation of the architecture of secondary lymphoid organs (3, 4). Inflammatory chemokine expression can be elicited by almost any stimulus that alters cellular homeostasis, such as infections and immune disorders (4).