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Updated: Mar 22, 2026
Quantification of Monocyte Chemotactic Activity In Vivo and Characterization of Blood Monocyte Derived Macrophages
Published on: August 12, 2019
Cytokine-like 1 Chemoattracts Monocytes/Macrophages via CCR2
Xiaolin Wang1, Ting Li1, Wenyan Wang1
1Department of Immunology, Key Laboratory of Medical Immunology, Ministry of Health, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University Health Science Center, Beijing 100191, China; and Peking University Center for Human Disease Genomics, Peking University Health Science Center, Beijing 100191, China.
Insights
Cytokine-like 1 (CYTL1) chemoattracts monocytes by binding to its functional receptor, CCR2B. This study confirms CCR2B as the CYTL1 receptor, elucidating CYTL1's role in immune cell chemotaxis.
Area of Science:
- Immunology
- Cell Biology
- Molecular Biology
Background:
- Cytokine-like 1 (CYTL1) is a novel cytokine with unknown functions.
- Its potential receptor has not been identified, though CCR2 was hypothesized.
- Understanding CYTL1's receptor is crucial for elucidating its biological roles.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify the functional receptor for Cytokine-like 1 (CYTL1).
- To verify the chemotactic activity of CYTL1.
- To investigate the signaling pathway involved in CYTL1-mediated chemotaxis.
Main Methods:
- HEK293 cells expressing CCR2B or CCR2B-EGFP were used for chemotaxis, receptor internalization, and radioactive binding assays.
- Experiments involved human monocytes, PBLs, and macrophages from wild-type and Ccr2(-/-) mice.
- Pertussis toxin was used to assess signaling pathways.
Main Results:
- CYTL1 exhibits chemotactic activity, specifically chemoattracting human monocytes but not PBLs.
- CCR2B was confirmed as the functional receptor for CYTL1.
- CYTL1-induced monocyte chemotaxis is mediated through the CCR2B-ERK pathway and is sensitive to pertussis toxin.
Conclusions:
- CCR2B is the functional receptor for Cytokine-like 1 (CYTL1).
- CYTL1 plays a role in monocyte and macrophage chemotaxis via the CCR2B receptor.
- This finding provides a foundation for further research into CYTL1's immunobiological functions.
Abstract:
Cytokine-like 1 (CYTL1) is a novel potential cytokine that was first identified in CD34(+) cells derived from bone marrow and cord blood, and it was also found using our immunogenomics strategy. The immunobiological functions of CYTL1 remain largely unknown, and its potential receptor(s) has not been identified. A previous proposed hypothesis suggested that CYTL1 had structural similarities with CCL2 and that CCR2 was a potential receptor of CYTL1. In this study, we verify that CYTL1 possesses chemotactic activity and demonstrate that its functional receptor is CCR2B using a series of experiments performed in HEK293 cells expressing CCR2B or CCR2B-EGFP, including chemotaxis, receptor internalization, and radioactive binding assays. CYTL1 chemoattracts human monocytes but not PBLs, and its chemotactic activity toward monocytes is dependent on the CCR2B-ERK pathway. Furthermore, both human and mouse recombinant CYTL1 protein have chemotactic effects on macrophages from wild-type mice but not from Ccr2(-/-) mice. Furthermore, the chemotactic activity of CYTL1 is sensitive to pertussis toxin. All of the above data confirm that CCR2B is a functional receptor of CYTL1.
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