Structure, Function and Modulation of Chemokine Receptors: Members of the G-Protein-Coupled Receptor Superfamily

Ziwei      Huang

Abstract

Chemokine receptors are membrane proteins that play an important role in inflammation and the cellular entry of human immunodeficiency virus type I (HIV-1). Understanding the structure-function relationship of chemokine receptor-ligand interactions and developing novel strategies to control these interactions have important implications for therapeutic intervention of human diseases such as HIV-1 infection. This article reviews the work carried out in our laboratory in molecular modeling and site-directed mutagenesis of chemokine receptor-ligand interactions and chemical synthesis of chemokine-derived peptide agonists and antagonists. These studies demonstrate a paradigm for exploring and controlling membrane protein-protein interactions.

Keywords: chemokine receptor, g-protein-coupled receptor, interleukin-8 receptor, ccr5,cxcr4,sdf-1

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