Multiple interests in structural models of DARC transmembrane protein

Duffy Antigen Receptor for Chemokines (DARC) Is an unusual transmembrane chemokine receptor which (i) binds the two main chemokine families and (ii) does not transduct any signal as it lacks the DRY consensus sequence It is considered as silent chemokine receptor. a tank useful for chemiotactism DARC had been particularly studied as a major actor of malaria infection by Plasmodium vivax It is also implicated in multiple chemokine inflammation. inflammatory diseases, in cancer and might play a role in HIV infection and AIDS In this review, we focus on the interest to build structural model of DARC to understand more precisely its abilities to bind its physiological ligand CXCL8 and its malaria ligand We also present innovative development on VHHs able to bind DARC protein We underline difficulties and limitations of such bioinformatics approaches and highlight the crucial importance of biological data to conduct these kinds of researches (C) 2010 Elsevier Masson SAS All rights reserved