Expression of Duffy antigen receptor for chemokines (DARC) is down-regulated in colorectal cancer

Abstract

Duffy antigen receptor for chemokines (DARC) is a silent chemokine receptor which selectively binds angiogenic chemokines without inducing conventional signaling responses. DARC has been reported to inhibit the development of multiple cancers through clearance of angiogenic chemokines. However, its role in colorectal cancer (CRC) remains unclear. We investigated the expression of DARC in CRC and explored correlation of DARC expression with clinical pathological features and microvessel density (MVD). The protein expression levels of DARC were detected by immunohistochemistry in 90 CRC and 64 paired unaffected tissues. The mRNA levels of DARC were detected by quantitative real-time PCR in 15 CRC and paired unaffected tissues. MVD in CRC was also assessed by immunohistochemistry of CD34. We found that the mRNA and protein expression levels of DARC were significantly lower in CRC than in the unaffected tissues (p?<?0.05). The DARC protein expression levels were positively correlated with DARC mRNA expression levels in both CRC (p?<?0.001) and unaffected tissues (p?<?0.001). We also found that DARC expression was significantly correlated with tumor differentiation (p?<?0.001), lymph node metastasis (p?<?0.01) and TNM stage (p?<?0.05). Moreover, we observed a strong negative relationship between DARC expression and MVD in CRC (p?<?0.001). We showed that DARC expression is down-regulated in CRC and associated with clinical pathological features and MVD of CRC. DARC might be involved in tumorigenesis, progression, angiogenesis, and metastasis of CRC.     

Staphylococcus aureus Leukocidins Target Endothelial DARC to Cause Lethality in Mice

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Atypical chemokine receptors

Atypical chemokine receptors (ACRs) are cell surface receptors with seven transmembrane domains structurally homologous to chemokine G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs). However, upon ligation by cognate chemokines, ACRs fail to induce classical signaling and downstream cellular responses characteristic for GPCRs. Despite this, by affecting chemokine availability and function, ACRs impact on a multitude of pathophysiological events and have emerged as important molecular players in health and disease. This review discusses individual characteristics of the currently known ACRs, highlights their similarities and differences and attempts to establish their group identity. It summarizes the progress made in mapping ACR expression, understanding their diverse in vitro and in vivo functions of ACRs and uncovering their contributions to disease pathogeneses.     

Contribution of Duffy antigen to chemokine function

In addition to classical G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), a group of alternative, “silent” chemokine receptors has recently been identified. These serpentine molecules are not coupled to G proteins and subsequent signaling cascades, but can efficiently internalize their cognate chemokine ligands, thus act as “interceptors” (internalizing receptors). Here we discuss a mechanism by which a member of this family, Duffy antigen (DARC), contributes to chemokine-induced leukocyte emigration. Cumulative experimental evidence suggests that DARC on venular endothelium mediates chemokine internalization at the abluminal surface followed by transcytosis and transfer of the chemokine cargo onto the luminal surface. DARC is also expressed on the erythrocyte surface of DARC positive individuals. Erythrocyte DARC binds plasma chemokines which results, on one hand, in impediment of the chemokines loss from the circulation and, on the other hand, in neutralization of chemokines in the blood. This leads to leukocyte protection from inadvertent “desensitization” and enhancement of leukocyte recruitment.     

Identification of a domain critical for Staphylococcus aureus LukED receptor targeting and lysis of erythrocytes

Leukocidin ED (LukED) is a pore-forming toxin produced by Staphylococcus aureus, which lyses host cells and promotes virulence of the bacteria. LukED enables S. aureus to acquire iron by lysing erythrocytes, which depends on targeting the host receptor Duffy antigen receptor for chemokines (DARC). The toxin also targets DARC on the endothelium, contributing to the lethality observed during bloodstream infection in mice. LukED is comprised of two monomers: LukE and LukD. LukE binds to DARC and facilitates hemolysis, but the closely related Panton–Valentine leukocidin S (LukS-PV) does not bind to DARC and is not hemolytic. The interaction of LukE with DARC and the role this plays in hemolysis are incompletely characterized. To determine the domain(s) of LukE that are critical for DARC binding, we studied the hemolytic function of LukE–LukS-PV chimeras, in which areas of sequence divergence (divergence regions, or DRs) were swapped between the toxins. We found that two regions of LukE''s rim domain contribute to hemolysis, namely residues 57–75 (DR1) and residues 182–196 (DR4). Interestingly, LukE DR1 is sufficient to render LukS-PV capable of DARC binding and hemolysis. Further, LukE, by binding DARC through DR1, promotes the recruitment of LukD to erythrocytes, likely by facilitating LukED oligomer formation. Finally, we show that LukE targets murine Darc through DR1 in vivo to cause host lethality. These findings expand our biochemical understanding of the LukE–DARC interaction and the role that this toxin-receptor pair plays in S. aureus pathophysiology.     

A Functional Group Database: A Charge Density – DARC Approach

The principle of the DARC approach of hierarchical organization is applied to a molecular electron density representation of functional groups, designed to represent some of the large-scale features of biomolecules, especially macromolecules important in biotechnology and bioinformatics. The proposed representation of the hierarchical structure of the interrelations among functional groups and other, chemically identifiable molecular moieties within a molecule, and a weighting scheme assigned to these local molecular components are justified by the internal structures of the actual fuzzy electron density distributions associated with these molecular moieties. These hierarchical relations serve as a basis for the organization of a functional group database, providing a tool for synthesis design and molecular engineering.