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Updated: Feb 7, 2026

A Protocol for Computer-Based Protein Structure and Function Prediction
Published on: November 3, 2011
Conserved structure and function of chemokine CXCL8 between Chinese tree shrews and humans
Zongmin Jiang1, Bo Gao1, Min Hu2
1Laboratory of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, School of Life Sciences, Yunnan University, Kunming, Yunnan 650091, China; Key Laboratory for Tumor Molecular Biology of High Education in Yunnan Province, School of Life Sciences, Yunnan University, Kunming, Yunnan 650091, China.
Abstract:
Chemokines represent a superfamily of small secretion proteins that functionally mediate immune cell transmigration in normal or inflammatory conditions. Although anatomic and polygenetic evidence suggests that tree shrews are primate-like species, understanding of the structure and function of tree shrew chemokines has only just commenced. In this study, we cloned tree shrew chemokine CXCL8 and its cognate receptors. Predicted three-dimensional (3D) structures showed that binding domains in CXCL8 and CXCR1/2 were highly conserved between tree shrews and humans. We found that the human CXCL8 (hCXCL8) protein induced migration of tree shrew peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) expressed by CXCR1/2 (tsCXCR1/2). Blocking interaction between hCXCL8 and tsCXCR1/2 with allosteric antagonists (reparixin and SB265610) significantly decreased tree shrew PBMC transmigration. Over-expressing tree shrew CXCR1 in human HEK 293 T cells further enhanced cellular in vitro transmigration. Similar to primate species, our findings suggest that CXCL8 and CXCR1/2 constitute a structurally- and functionally-conserved chemotaxis responsible for tree shrew immune activities.
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