期刊名称:Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
印刷版ISSN:0027-8424
电子版ISSN:1091-6490
出版年度:2002
卷号:99
期号:3
页码:1229-1234
DOI:10.1073/pnas.032497699
语种:English
出版社:The National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
摘要:Heparan sulfate (HS) molecules are ubiquitous in animal tissues where they function as ligands that are dramatically involved in the regulation of the proteins they bind. Of these, chemokines are a family of small proteins with many biological functions. Their well-conserved monomeric structure can associate in various oligomeric forms especially in the presence of HS. Application of protein surface analysis and energy calculations to all known chemokine structures leads to the proposal that four different binding modes are created by the folding and oligomerization of these proteins. So, based on the present state of our knowledge, four different clusters of amino acids should be involved in the recognition process. Our results help to rationalize how unique sequences of HS specifically bind any given chemokine. The conclusions open the route for a rational design of compounds of therapeutical interest that could influence chemokine activity.