title: Chemokines and their receptors: insights from molecular modeling and crystallography.
abstract: Chemokines are small secreted proteins that direct cell migration in development, immunity, inflammation, and cancer. They do so by binding and activating specific G protein coupled receptors on the surface of migrating cells. Despite the importance of receptor:chemokine interactions, their structural basis remained unclear for a long time. In 2015, the first atomic resolution insights were obtained with the publication of X-ray structures for two distantly related receptors bound to chemokines. In conjunction with experiment-guided molecular modeling, the structures suggest a conserved receptor:chemokine complex architecture, while highlighting the diverse details and functional roles of individual interaction epitopes. Novel findings promote the development and detailed structural interpretation of the canonical two-site hypothesis of receptor:chemokine recognition, and suggest new avenues for pharmacological modulation of chemokine receptors.
authors.affiliation: Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of California at San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA. Electronic address: ikufareva@ucsd.edu.
authors.forename: Irina
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Kufareva
mesh_terms: D002465:Cell Movement; D018925:Chemokines / Q000378:metabolism*; D003461:Crystallography; D006801:Humans; D008958:Models, Molecular; D019707:Receptors, Chemokine / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D043562:Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D018925:Chemokines; D019707:Receptors, Chemokine; D043562:Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled