Chemotactic proteins leukocytes activated

Many low weight compounds produced by microor-ganism-like formylated peptides as well as endogenous mediators are chemotactic for leukocytes and promote the inflammatory process. The main endogenous compounds are listed in Table 1 and are derived from activated plasma protein cascades that function as amplification mechanisms, are performed and released from activated cells or are de novo synthesized on demand by cells participating in or being affected by inflammatory events. The major modulators of leukocyte adhesion to endothelial cells are listed in Table 2. 

The HIV-1 coreceptors CXCR4 and CCR5 bind to ligand members of a family of molecules known as chemokines, or chemotactic cytokines. While the hallmark function of these small proteins is the direction of leukocyte trafficking, they can also participate in cellular events such as activation and costimulation (Bajetto et al. 2(X)la). Members of the chemokine family can be classified as either homeostatic or inflammatory based on their temporal expression (Charo and Ransohoff 2006 Kim 2005). Although traditionally the CNS had been thought to be protected from immune acti-... 

At higher chemokine concentrations, polymorphonuclear leukocytes are activated to produce oxygen radicals and to degranulate (Taub et al., 1996). Several granule proteins, including the defensins, azurocidin, and cathepsin G, are themselves chemotactic for mononuclear cells and presumably serve as signals that help convert acute into chronic inflammatory responses and thus promote the conversion of innate into adaptive immune responses (Chertov et al., 1996, 1997). Thus, chemokines have the potential to activate a number of downstream... 

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