CX3CR1 polyclonal antibody

Chemokines are chemoattractant proteins that are divided into subfamilies based upon cysteine signature motifs termed C, CC, CXC and CX3C. Fractalkine, also designated CX3CL1, contains the CX3C motif and is widely ex-pressed in brain and upregulated in endothelial cells in response to inflammatory signals, such as LPS, IL-1, TNF and CD40L. Fractalkine exists both as a membrane-bound form and as a chemotactic soluble form, and binds its cognate receptor, CX3CR1, with high affinity, to induce leukocyte adhesion and migration or chemotactic functions. CX3CR1, previously designated V28 and chemokine β receptor-like 1 (CMKBRL1), is expressed in neutrophils, monocytes, T lymphocytes and several organs including brain. CX3CR1 also functions with CD4 as a co-receptor for the HIV-1 virus envelope protein, and patients homozygous for a variant haplotype of CX3CR1 progress to AIDS more rapidly than those with other haplotypes. CX3CR1 may also be involved in the pathogenesis of atherosclerotic coronary artery disease (CAD) and is considered a potential drug target for therapeutic intervention of endothelium-related inflammatory diseases.