Rapid Publication The Amino-terminal Domain of the CCR2 Chemokine Receptor Acts as Coreceptor for HIV-1 Infection

The chemokines are a homologous serum protein family characterized by their ability to induce activation of integrin adhesion molecules and leukocyte migration. Chemokines interact with their receptors, which are composed of a sin-gle-chain, seven-helix, membrane-spanning protein coupled to G proteins. Two CC chemokine receptors, CCR3 and CCR5, as well as the CXCR4 chemokine receptor, have been shown necessary for infection by several HIV-1 virus isolates. We studied the effect of the chemokine monocyte chemo-attractant protein 1 (MCP-1) and of a panel of MCP-1 re-ceptor (CCR2)-specific monoclonal antibodies (mAb) on the suppression of HIV-1 replication in peripheral blood mono-nuclear cells. We have compelling evidence that MCP-1 ha