Human eosinophils are crucial effector cells implicated in a number of chronic inflammatory reactions, associated with bronchial asthma, allergic-inflammatory diseases, and parasitic infections (Ref.1). Bronchial asthma is a multifactorial disease characterized clinically by reversible bronchoconstriction leading to shortness of breath. The inflammatory response associated with asthma is characterized by the recruitment of eosinophils from the bronchial microcirculation in response to the regulated local production of chemoattractant molecules (Ref.2). Chemoattractants/chemokines, generated at the involved sites, promote the migration of eosinophils from the vasculature into the tissue. Chemotaxis of eosinophils is the single most important event in the pathogenesis of allergic inflammation (Ref.3).
The chemotactic response of eosinophils is mostly mediated by CCR3 (CC Chemokine Receptor-3), a member of the G protein-coupled, [...]