The role of chemokines in the immunopathology of pulmonary disease

During the last decade, our understanding of the mechanisms involved in the initiation and maintenance of pulmonary disease has been greatly aided by advances in the field of chemokine biology. Chemokines comprise four supergene families, two of these families (the CC and CXC chemokine groups) are quite large and contain over 50 identified ligands and at least 14 individual receptors. Two additional chemokine families (C, CXXXC chemokines) are small and contain lymphotactin and fractalkine, respectively, as their members. In addition to their originally identified chemotactic activity, chemokines possess a variety of biological activities, ranging from immunomodulating leukocyte activation to suppressing HIV infection. The latter effect is due to the ability of specific chemokine receptors to serve as co-receptor for HIV entry into specific leukocyte sub-populations. A number of in vitro and in vivo studies have underscored the importance of chemokine biology in the progression of both acute and chronic lung diseases. These investigations have demonstrated the importance of targeting chemokines for new therapeutic approaches to treat pulmonary disease. A variety of acute and chronic lung diseases have been shown to possess a chemokine component and contribute to the initiation and maintenance of lung pathology, thus, there is little doubt that a further understanding of the mechanisms of pulmonary diseases will rely upon advances in the field of chemokine biology.