Neutralizing endogenous chemokines with small molecules

INTERACTION OF PROTEINS WITH SMALL MOLECULES

Immunologic messenger molecules: cytokines, interferons, and chemokines.

Cytokines and chemokines are secreted proteins involved in numerous aspects of cell growth, differentiation, and activation. A prominent feature of these molecules is their effect on the immune system with regard to cell trafficking and development of immune tissue and organs. The nature of an immune response determines which cytokines are produced and ultimately whether the response is cytotox...

A Conduit System Distributes Chemokines and Small Blood-borne Molecules through the Splenic White Pulp

Access to the splenic white pulp is restricted to lymphocytes and dendritic cells. Here we show that movement of molecules from the blood into these confined areas is also limited. Large molecules, such as bovine serum albumin (68 kD), immunoglobulin G (150 kD), and 500 kD dextran are unable to enter the white pulp, whereas smaller blood-borne molecules can directly permeate this compartment. T...

Thinking big with small molecules

Synthetic chemistry has enabled scientists to explore the frontiers of cell biology, limited only by the laws of chemical bonding and reactivity. As we investigate biological questions of increasing complexity, new chemical technologies can provide systems-level views of cellular function. Here we discuss some of the molecular probes that illustrate this shift from a "one compound, one gene" pa...

Targeting RNA with small molecules.

5.1. Binding Sites of the Aminoglycosides 1185 5.2. Importance of Electrostatic Interactions 1185 5.3. Nonionic Interactions 1185 5.4. Pseudo-Base Pair Interactions 1186 5.5. Water-Mediated Contacts 1186 5.6. Shape Complementarity and Conformational Adaptation 1186 6. Assays for Evaluating RNA Binding 1186 6.1. Methods Utilizing Fluorescently Labeled RNA 1186 6.2. NMR-Based Methods 1187 6.3. El...