Cloning and functional expression of a human eosinophil CC chemokine receptor

Eosinophils undergo chemotaxis, degranulate, and exhibit [Ca²⁺](i) changes in response to the human CC chemokines macrophage inflammatory protein (MIP)-1α, regulated on activation, normal T expressed and secreted (RANTES), and monocyte chemoattractant protein-3 (MCP-3), but the receptors involved have not been defined. We have isolated a human cDNA encoding the first eosinophil-selective chemokine receptor, designated CC chemokine receptor 3 (CC CKR3). CC CKR3 is a seven-transmembrane domain G protein- coupled receptor most closely related to the previously reported monocyte- and neutrophil-selective receptor CC CKR1 (also known as the MIP-1α/RANTES receptor). When [Ca²⁺](i) changes were monitored in stably transfected human embryonic kidney 293 cells, MIP-1α and RANTES were both potent agonists for CC CKR3 and CC CKR1. However, MIP-1β was also an agonist for CC CKR3 but not CC CKR1; MCP-3 was an agonist for CC CKR1 but not CC CKR3. CC CKR3 may be one of the host factors responsible for selective recruitment of eosinophils to sites of inflammation.