The chemokine system: redundancy for robust outputs.
Chemokines are redundant in their action on target cells and promiscuous in receptor usage. Moreover, certain cells concomitantly produce several chemokines with an overlapping spectrum of action. Here, Alberto Mantovani argues that such robustness provides a conceptual framework to understand these intriguing aspects of the chemokine system.
Mantovani
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Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche 'Mario Negri', Via Eritrea 62-20157 Milan Italy. MANTOVANI@irfmn.mnegri.it
D000818:Animals; D018925:Chemokines / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007962:Leukocytes / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D009000:Monocytes / Q000378:metabolism; D010587:Phagocytosis / Q000276:immunology; D019707:Receptors, Chemokine / Q000378:metabolism
D018925:Chemokines; D019707:Receptors, Chemokine