Chemokines and chemokine receptors in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL): from understanding the basics towards therapeutic targeting.

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BlankChemokines and chemokine receptors in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL):

from understanding the basics towards therapeutic targeting.

Semin Cancer Biol, September 27, 2010; .

Department of Leukemia, The University of Texas M.D. Cancer Center,

Houston, TX.

Chemokines and their receptors organize the recruitment and positioning of cells

at each stage of the immune response, a system critically dependent upon

coordination to get the right cells to the right place at the right time.

Chemokine receptors expressed on CLL B cells are thought to function in a

similar fashion, regulating the trafficking of the leukemia cells between blood,

lymphoid organs, and the bone marrow, and within sub compartments within these

tissues, in concert with adhesion molecules and other guidance cues. CLL cells

not only respond to chemokines secreted in the microenvironment, the leukemia

cells also secrete chemokines in response to external signals, such as B cell

receptor engagement. These CLL cell-derived chemokines facilitate interactions

between CLL cells, T cells, and other immune cells that shape the CLL

microenvironment. CXCR4, the most prominent chemokine receptor in CLL, is now

targeted in a first clinical trial, emphasizing that chemokines and their

receptors have become a highly dynamic translational research field.

PMID: 20883788