The Chemokine System at the Crossroads of Physiology and Disease

Chemokines, also known as chemotactic cytokines, represent a family of close to 50 low molecular weight proteins that are characterized by the positioning of four conserved cysteins and by their ability to induce cell migration. Unlike other cytokines, chemokine bind to heterotrimeric G Protein-coupled receptors that all signal through the pertussis-toxin sensitive G-alpha-i subunits. In addition to these “classical” chemokine receptors recent research highlighted the importance of four, so called atypical chemokine receptors that do not couple to G proteins and do not induce cell migration but scavenge chemokines thereby regulating their biological availability.

More than 25 years of research identified the chemokine system as the key regulator of immune cell trafficking within and between lymphoid and non-lymphoid organs and the distribution of effector cells within all compartments of the body. Furthermore, chemokines play an important role during the developmental of the hematopoietic, cardiac and the central nervous system and have been shown to facilitate tumor metastasis to various organs. Chemokine receptors are exploited by viruses such as HIV as a port of cell entry while other viruses encode for chemokine-like proteins, chemokine-binding proteins or chemokine-like receptors to suppress anti-viral immunity. Based on their broad biological activity and their involvement in many diseases the 2018 Chemotactic Cytokines Gordon Research Conference (GRC) will cover many aspects of the chemokine system, as denoted in the session titles of this meeting. This includes sensing of chemokines; chemokines in cell migration, positioning, and organ organization; atypical chemokine receptors; stromal and lymphatic cells as chemokine producers; and crystal structures and therapeutic targeting of the chemokine system.