title: Overview and potential unifying themes of the atypical chemokine receptor family.
abstract: Chemokines modulate immune responses through their ability to orchestrate the migration of target cells. Chemokines directly induce cell migration through a distinct set of 7 transmembrane domain G protein-coupled receptors but are also recognized by a small subfamily of atypical chemokine receptors, characterized by their inability to support chemotactic activity. Atypical chemokine receptors are now emerging as crucial regulatory components of chemokine networks in a wide range of physiologic and pathologic contexts. Although a new nomenclature has been approved recently to reflect their functional distinction from their conventional counterparts, a systematic view of this subfamily is still missing. This review discusses their biochemical and immunologic properties to identify potential unifying themes in this emerging family.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Biotechnologies and Translational Medicine, University of Milan, and Humanitas Clinical and Research Center, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vacchini
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Biotechnologies and Translational Medicine, University of Milan, and Humanitas Clinical and Research Center, Milan, Italy massimo.locati@unimi.it.
authors.forename: Massimo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Locati
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Biotechnologies and Translational Medicine, University of Milan, and Humanitas Clinical and Research Center, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Elena Monica
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Borroni
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D006801:Humans; D021381:Protein Transport; D019707:Receptors, Chemokine / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D015398:Signal Transduction
chemical_list: D019707:Receptors, Chemokine
keywords: G protein coupled receptor; expression; signaling; trafficking; β-arrestin