Role of chemokines in fungal infections

The production of chemokines at the site of a fungal infection is critical for effective recruitment of leukocytes to that site. Over 40 chemokines and 20 chemokine receptors have been identified. The most intriguing biological property of chemokines is that they often play non-redundant roles in vivo even though they are highly related, have multiple activities and bind multiple chemokine receptors. Almost all of the chemokine studies to date have concentrated on responses to Cryptococcus, Candida, Aspergillus or Pneumocystis. The role of chemokines in infections caused by fungi such as Histoplasma, Blastomyces, Coccidioides and Paracoccidioides remains to be explored. In this review we have summarized what is currently known about the role of chemokines during fungal infection, including the influence of these signaling proteins on effector cell recruitment and development of cell-mediated immunity.