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Regulation of the Immune Response by the Interaction of Chemokines and Proteases

2003; Elsevier BV; Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/s0065-2776(03)81001-5

1557-8445

Sofie Struyf, Paul Proost, Jo Van Damme,

interferon and immune responses

Chemokines act in a network, constituted by many overlapping interactions between ligands and their receptors. Multiple chemokines can recognize the same receptor, and one chemokine can bind to several receptors. This complex organization guarantees a solid defense system that assures protection, even if one of the links in the web is affected. This robustness of the chemokine system, in its most prominent role, is evidenced by the apparent health of most chemokine or chemokine receptor knockout mice. However, when more specialized disease models are tested, a specific role for individual receptors and their ligands can be demonstrated.