The overall goal of the project has been to identify and characterize the function of macrophage products of potential importance in immune and inflammatory responses in order to manipulate these responses for clinical benefit. This laboratory identified mouse and human Mig and mouse Crg-2/IP-10, previously undescribed members of a family of small secreted proteins, termed chemokines. Mig and Crg-2/IP-10 are inducible in macrophage and other cells by IFN-gamma and target activated T cells, B cells and NK cells through the CXCR3 receptor, which they share with I-TAC, another interferon-inducible chemokine. Work in the last year has focused on novel findings for the expression of Crg-2/IP-10, and to a lesser extent Mig in liver disease in humans, and in mouse models of liver and bile duct injury and regeneration. The pattern of Crg-2/IP-10 induction suggests both that Crg-2/IP-10 is part of a systemic response to injury and that Crg-2/IP-10 has a role in liver regeneration. In addition, we have been investigating possible roles for Crg-2/IP-10 and I-TAC in HIV/AIDS, related to the co-expression of CXCR3 and the major HIV coreceptor, CCR5, on CD4+ memory T cells. Our findings suggest that the recruitment of CCR5+ memory/effector T cells by CXCR3 ligands may contribute to the dissemination of HIV infection.
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