#chemokines

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Directing Traffic

Chemical messengers called chemokines are the traffic police of your body, telling cells on the move where to go via a chemokine concentration gradient. Atypical chemokine receptors (ACKRs) on certain cells help create these gradients by binding and engulfing specific chemokines. Three called GPR182, ACKR3 and ACKR4 are located in lymph and blood vessels, and research suggests may be found together in certain microenvironments within organs. However, there’s no comprehensive map of where they are. Researchers now genetically engineer mice with fluorescently-tagged GPR182, ACKR3, ACKR4 and ACKR-specific chemokines to locate them. Fluorescence microscopy revealed unique and shared distribution patterns of these ACKRs in a variety of organs, including the spleen (pictured, ACKR4 in green, GPR182 in red). Meanwhile, fluorescently-tagged chemokines revealed distinct activity zones for ACKR4 and GPR182 in the liver. These mouse models, therefore, provide a useful tool to probe ACKRs in different organs and microenvironments.

Written by Lux Fatimathas

Image from work by Serena Melgrati and colleagues

Institute for Research in Biomedicine, Università della Svizzera italiana, Bellinzona, Switzerland

Image originally published with a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Published in PLOS Biology, May 2023

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Cytokines & Receptors P.2 of 5

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Inflammation Explanation

Your immune system rapidly responds to protect you whenever you’re injured, or invaded by microorganisms or parasites. Inflammation is a key part of this activation, rallying the troops. It’s at the heart of both healthy protection and allergic reactions, so understanding the details is important for developing new treatments. While a group of cells called ILC2s (group 2 innate lymphoid cells, green in the slice of mouse lung pictured) were known to play an important role in inflammation, what drove them wasn’t clear. A new study now shows that they home towards specific chemokines – signalling proteins – and are guided along the way by the extracellular matrix – the structure surrounding cells (shown in pink and blue). Knowing that structural cues from this matrix, along with molecular guiding lights, steer ILC2 behaviour during inflammation helps our understanding of both allergic and disease-fighting reactions, which may eventually help us intervene when needed.

Written by Anthony Lewis

Image from work by Franz Puttur and Laura Denney, and colleagues, cover image of Science Immunology, 21 June 2019

Inflammation, Repair and Development, National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London and Cancer Research UK Beatson Institute, Bearsden, Glasgow, UK

Image copyright held by the original authors

Research published in Science Immunology, June 2019

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Yin and yang of tumor-associated macrophages - Immunology Research

Nature Immunology, Published online: 25 March 2026; doi:10.1038/s41590-026-02486-7 Our work reveals functional heterogeneity among interstitial macrophages, showing that distinct chemokine programs determine immune cell positioning and interactions within lung tumors. Interstitial macrophage niches support anti-tumor tertiary lymphoid structure formation and lymphocyte recruitment, but they also…

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Migrating immune cells globally coordinate protrusive forces - New Study

Nature Immunology, Published online: 15 July 2025; doi:10.1038/s41590-025-02211-w Sixt and colleagues show that, in environments where even the largest pores preclude free passage, leukocytes position their nucleus behind the centrosome and assemble a central F-actin pool that pushes outward to transiently dilate a path for the nucleus. Summary Sixt et al. report a novel mechanism leukocytes use…

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Effect of phosphorylation barcodes on arrestin binding to a chemokine receptor

Nobles, K. N. et al. Distinct phosphorylation sites on the β2-adrenergic receptor establish a barcode that encodes differential functions of β-arrestin. Sci. Signal 4, ra51 (2011). Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar  Schafer, C. T., Chen, Q., Tesmer, J. J. G. & Handel, T. M. Atypical chemokine receptor 3 “senses” CXC chemokine receptor 4 activation through GPCR kinase…

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Chemokines and Chemoattractants

Chemokines and Chemoattractants Chemokines and chemoattractants are signaling molecules that play a crucial role in the immune system by directing the movement of cells, particularly immune cells, towards sites of infection, injury, or inflammation. These molecules are essential for ensuring that cells are properly positioned within tissues and that immune responses are conducted efficiently and…