There are several molecular entities common to the immune and nervous
systems. Salient among them are the chemokines and their receptors,
which play remarkably varied and potent roles in immunobiology and
neurobiology. This review limns several illustrative examples and
presents general principles of chemokine action that are manifest in
both systems. These include the following: (1) chemokines tend equally
to arrest cells and to make them move, in the process of positioning
target cells with spatiotemporal precision; (2) signaling and
nonsignaling receptors collaborate to adjust the chemokine environment
for maximal efficacy; and (3) expression of a single chemokine receptor
on circulating blood cells and parenchymal cells is often used to
coordinate complex tissue responses. The challenge is to integrate
knowledge of the roles of key receptors (as well as their ligands) into a
coherent account of events during pathologic processes, in order to
guide therapeutic development.
Read More: Chemokines and chemokine receptors: standing at the crossroads of immunobiology and neurobiology.