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Chapter category: Viruses
CX3C Chemokine Mimicry by Respiratory Syncytial Virus G Glycoprotein
Chapter authors:
Ralph A. Tripp
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Chemokines are small disulphide-linked polypeptides that act as potent chemoattractants
for many cell types including lymphocytes, monocytes, macrophages, neutrophils
and NK cells. As described in chapter 1 chemokines are divided into subfamilies
based upon cysteine signature motifs termed C, CC, CXC and CX3C and have roles
in immunity and inflammation affecting cell trafficking and activation. The
only described CX3C chemokine is fractalkine, an unusual chemokine in that it
exists both as a membrane bound protein and as a cleaved soluble molecule. Several
viruses have evolved strategies to alter immune responses by expressing proteins
that mimic chemokines or their receptors. The G glycoprotein of respiratory
syncytial virus (RSV) was recently shown to contain a CX3C chemokine motif that
competes with fractalkine for binding to its receptor, CX3CR1, induces fractalkinelike
leukocyte chemotaxis, and facilitates virus infection. The implications of this
finding in the biology of RSV infection and disease pathogenesis are discussed.
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