CCR2 is a receptor for several monocyte chemoattractant proteins (MCP1, MCP3, MCP4) that specifically govern monocyte chemotaxis. CCR2 transduces its downstream signals through increasing intracellular calcium ion levels. For example, MCP1 regulates the monocyte infiltration found in inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid or the cellular inflammatory response to tumors. CCR2 is also an alternative co-receptor with CD4 for HIV1 infection. CCR2 exists in two isoforms and has been found to be expressed in a wide variety of tissues - blood, brain, heart, kidney, liver, lung, ovary, pancreas, spinal cord, spleen, and thymus.
Hart et al used the CCR2 antibody in their immunological studies on how a tumor-promoting population of CD11b (+)CD11c (+) leukocytes are recruited to peritoneal tumors in ovarian cancer1. Because their data supports a critical role of CCR2 as a functional facilitator of leukocyte recruitment to the tumor microenvironment, CCR2 is a viable therapeutic target for further investigation. Immunoblot studies with the CCR2 antibody allowed neurology researchers to dissect the role of CCR2 in hypoxic preconditioning-induced protection from stroke, allowing the development of ischemic tolerance2. Lee et al from Northwestern employed the CCR2 antibody for immunofluorescence in their experiments in diabetic nephropathy3. They found that TGF-beta directly induces CCR2, enabling it to exert pleiotropic effects on resident kidney cells that included increased cell motility, actin cytoskeleton rearrangement, and increased podocyte permeability. Immunological studies in Ali’s laboratory employed the CCR2 antibody to monitor the therapeutic efficacy of a novel CCR2 mutant in minimizing allograft inflammation4. The time-dependent expression of CCR2 spinal cord injury studies was monitored with the CCR2 antibody to better understand CCR2’s role as an integrator of neuropathic pain and inflammation in response to peripheral nerve lesions and spinal cord contusion injuries (SCIs)5. Results from such experiments may help guide the application of such chemokines in addressing and treating intractable, chronic central neuropathic pain after such injuries.
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