Therapeutic targeting of chemokine interactions in atherosclerosis.

Koenen, Rory R.; Weber, Christian

Atherosclerosis is a chronic inflammatory disease of the arterial wall that is characterized by a disturbed equilibrium of immune responses and lipid accumulation, leading to the development of plaques. The atherogenic influx of mononuclear cells is orchestrated by chemokines and their receptors. Studies using gene-deficient mice and antagonists based on peptides and small molecules have generated insight into targeting chemokine-receptor axes for treating atherosclerosis, which might complement lipid-lowering strategies and risk factor modulation. Combined inhibition of multiple chemokine axes could interfere with the contributions of chemokines to disease progression at specific cells, stages or sites. In addition, the recently characterized heterophilic interactions of chemokines might present a novel target for the treatment and prevention of inflammatory diseases such as atherosclerosis.

CHEMOKINES; ATHEROSCLEROSIS treatment; ATHEROSCLEROTIC plaque; IMMUNE response; PEPTIDES; DRUG delivery systems; DISEASE progression; RESEARCH; ANIMAL experimentation; RESEARCH methodology; CELL receptors; DRUG design; MEDICAL cooperation; EVALUATION research; ATHEROSCLEROSIS; COMPARATIVE studies; MICE

Nature Reviews Drug Discovery, 2010, Vol 9, Issue 2, p141

1474-1776

Academic Journal

10.1038/nrd3048