Chemokines and chemokine receptors as targets in the therapy of psoriasis.
Chemokines are members of a superfamily of small, cytokine-like, chemotactic proteins that have recently been shown to critically regulate leukocyte trafficking. Accumulating evidence indicates that the chronically relapsing inflammatory skin disease psoriasis represents a T cell-mediated disease. Thus, the understanding of the underlying mechanisms of memory T cell homing to the skin may provide promising targets for the development of novel therapeutics. Here results of recent studies associating chemokines with a psoriatic phenotype and delineating their role in the recruitment of memory T cells to the skin are discussed.
Homey
Bernhard
B
Dept. of Dermatology, Heinrich-Heine-University, Moorenstr. 5, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany. Bernhard.Homey@uni-duesseldorf.de
D018925:Chemokines / Q000378:metabolism*; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D011565:Psoriasis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000378:metabolism*; D019707:Receptors, Chemokine / Q000378:metabolism*
D018925:Chemokines; D019707:Receptors, Chemokine