Glossary > Overview
- Antagonist: a chemical which blocks the activity of the protein it binds to.
- Asthma: a common inflammatory disease of the airways, causing coughing, wheezing, shortness of breath and chest tightness.
- Bronchoalveolar Lavage (BAL) Fluid: Bronchoalvelolar lavage is a medical procedure whereby a bronchoscope is passed into the lungs, fluid is administered to the lungs and then recovered from the lungs for later analysis.
- Chemoattractants: chemicals or compounds which attract movement of cells along a gradient.
- COPD: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, common chronic airway inflammatory disease largely related to smoking. Over-expression of IL-8 causing neutrophil infiltration to the lung is key to the pathology.
- CXCR1: One of the two GPCR receptors that binds chemokine IL-8 and is expressed on neutrophils.
- CXCR2: One of the two GPCR receptors that binds chemokine IL-8 and is expressed on neutrophils. CXCR2 is a known target for small molecule drug development.
- Cystic Fibrosis (CF): Cystic fibrosis is the most common genetic disease in Caucasians. It affects many organs in the body but key symptoms are difficulty in breathing, frequent respiratory infections and chronic lung inflammation.
- Decoy protein: a protein resembling a parent molecule, with blocking or interfering properties rather than activating properties of the parent molecule. A protein-based glycan antagonist.
- Endothelial cells: a thin layer of cells lining interior surface of blood vessels. Endothelial cells are key in regulating the passage of leukoyctes into inflamed tissue. Endothelial cells express proteoglycans which bind chemokines.
- Exacerbations: an acute episode of increased symptoms for a patient with chronic lung disease. An exacerbation is often caused by viral or bacterial infection in the lungs. Some patients are hospitalised during a severe exacerbation.
- Extra-cellular matrix: a Glycan-rich material located on the surface of cells and outside cells.
- Glycans: Glycans are long, linear sugars or polysaccharides. The name is used as an abbreviation for glycosaminoglycan in this web-site.
- Glycosaminoglycan (GAG): long unbranched polysaccharides containing a repeating disaccharide unit. Members include Heparan Sulphate, Heparin, Chondroitin Sulphate, Dermatan Sulphate, Keratan Sulphate and Hyaluronic acid. Glycosminoglycans are normally linked to a protein and the complex is called a proteoglycan
- GPCR receptor: a G-protein coupled receptor (GPCR) is a receptor with 7 transmembrane receptor domains. GPCRs sense the presence of certain ligands outside the cell and transmit signals into the cell upon ligand binding on their surface.
- Induced Sputum: Sputum is matter which is expelled from the respiratory tract. The amount of sputum is increased by medical procedures, and such induced sputum is often analysed in clinical trials to determine the inflammatory status of the lung.
- Interleukin–8 (IL-8): an inflammatory chemokine attracting and activating neutrophils by binding to two receptors called CXCR1 and CXCR2. IL-8 is also called CXCL8.
- Leukocyte: A term used for the different types of white blood cell in the body, including neutrophils, monocytes, lymphocytes, basophils and eosinophils.
- Macrophage: white blood cells produced from the differentiation of monocytes. They engulf and digest cellular debris and are responsible for coordinating subsequent inflammatory cascades.
- Neutrophil: the most abundant type of white blood cell, key to the innate immune system. Neutrophils fight off bacterial infections, but acute and chronic neutrophil infiltrations can cause tissue damage.
- Parenchyma: functional parts of tissue in an organ.
- Proteases: proteins are able to degrade other proteins by cleaving the bonds between amino acids.
- Proteoglycan: Proteins which are heavily glycosylated, with the addition of one or more glycosaminoglycan chains. Syndecan-1, -2, -3 and -4 are examples of proteoglycans which bind chemokines via the glycosaminoglycan chain.
- T lymphocytes: a lymphocyte critical in coordinating the adaptive immune response.