C-C motif chemokine receptor 2
C-C motif chemokine receptor 2 (CCR2), also called C-C chemokine receptor type 2, is a transmembrane G-protein-coupled receptor expressed on immune cells including monocytes and lymphocytes.
C-C motif chemokine receptor 2 (CCR2), also called C-C chemokine receptor type 2, is a transmembrane G-protein-coupled receptor expressed on immune cells including monocytes and lymphocytes. It participates in chemokine-directed cell migration, particularly through the CCL2/CCR2 axis, which can guide CCR2-positive cells toward tissues producing C-C motif chemokine ligand 2 (CCL2). This property links CCR2 to macrophage recruitment, inflammatory signaling, tumor microenvironments, and immune-cell trafficking.
CCR2 is therefore being investigated both as a biological marker and as a therapeutic target. Experimental strategies described in the recent literature include CCR2 antagonists, local CCR2 blockade, antibody–drug conjugates directed against CCR2-positive monocytes, and engineered cells or viral particles expressing CCR2 to improve tumor localization. Its medical relevance extends across cancer immunotherapy, macrophage biology, neuropathic pain, and disease-associated biomarker research. Related inflammatory and immune processes include the activity of proinflammatory cytokines, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), NF-κB, immunosuppression, and interactions with checkpoint pathways such as programmed cell death 1 (PD-1) and PD-1/PD-L1 blockade.
Rebuilt from PubMed 11 Sept 2026 · no new papers today
Where the papers sit
8 papers study c-c motif chemokine receptor 2 directly. Those 8 do not group into themes. CCR2 is examined across cancer immunotherapy, macrophage biology, neuropathic pain, drug modeling, and cardiac toxicity, without a shared disease focus or clear direction. They are no more alike than papers drawn from anywhere in the corpus.
Recent Findings on C-C motif chemokine receptor 2
A Journal of Controlled Release study investigated self-assembled molecular decoys for glioblastoma radio-immunotherapy. The nanoparticles were cloaked with membranes from macrophages overexpressing CCR2. This design was intended to provide two targeting mechanisms: mimic leukocyte–endothelium interactions to support blood–brain barrier transcytosis, and exploit the CCL2/CCR2 chemotactic axis for active navigation toward tumor-associated signals following radiation therapy 42392408Jul.
Research on the oncolytic viral immunotherapy ASP1012 examined how expression of CCR2 could alter the distribution of infected lymphocytes after systemic administration. According to the study, CCR2 expression enabled the virus to use the natural infection of circulating lymphocytes and redirect those cells toward tumors expressing CCL2, which the report described as being expressed by most solid human tumors. The approach was associated with optimization of memory T-cell responses after systemic delivery 42421317Jul.
A mathematical-biology study extended a tumor–immune interaction model to include combination treatment with immune checkpoint inhibitors and CCR2 antagonists. The work therefore treated CCR2 inhibition as a variable in theoretical analyses of combined cancer therapy, alongside checkpoint inhibitor effects involving pathways such as PD-1/PD-L1 blockade 42562918Aug.
In newly diagnosed multiple myeloma, investigators characterized the bone-marrow microenvironment and reported a high level of infiltration by CD163-positive, CD206-positive macrophages. These macrophages showed upregulated CCR2 and colony-stimulating-factor receptor expression, implicating CCR2-positive macrophage populations in the cellular composition of the myeloma bone-marrow niche 42334982Jun.
A study of skin-resident Langerhans cells investigated chemokine-dependent communication between immune cells and neurons in neuropathic pain. The Langerhans-cell secretome showed increased CCL2 release, while local CCR2 blockade reversed allodynia. These findings connected CCL2–CCR2 signaling with pain-associated neuron–immune communication in the studied model 42060359Apr.
Pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic modeling was used to support first-in-human development of TAK-500, an anti-CCR2 antibody–drug conjugate. The construct consists of TAK-202, an anti-CCR2 monoclonal antibody, linked to the STING agonist dazostinag (TAK-676). The stated therapeutic rationale is to stimulate antitumor immunity by reprogramming CCR2-positive monocytes, with population-based modeling used to predict human PK/PD behavior 41888610Mar.
An integrated multi-omics study of doxorubicin-induced atrial fibrillation identified CCR2, PDE5A, and CXCR2 among five hub genes. The combination of CCR2, PDE5A, and CXCR2 showed high predictive accuracy for atrial fibrillation, with a reported mean area under the curve of 0.87; CCR2 and PDE5A were also reported to be significantly and differentially expressed in the study’s validation analyses 42424301Jul.
Molecular-dynamics simulations and machine-learning approaches were used to characterize the interaction between MSMP and CCR2. The study described MSMP binding to CCR2, a G-protein-coupled receptor present on monocytes and lymphocytes, providing a computational analysis of a ligand–receptor interaction involving this chemokine receptor 42348904Jun.
Collectively, these publications extend CCR2-related translational research across tumor targeting, macrophage and monocyte biology, engineered immunotherapy, neuropathic pain, computational pharmacology, and disease-associated molecular profiling. The studies use CCR2 both as a mediator of chemotactic cell recruitment and as an intervention point for antibody conjugates, receptor blockade, antagonism, and cellular or viral engineering.
Written from 8 PubMed abstracts, each one cited by PMID above. Published: 2026-09-11. Drafted by language models from published abstracts; not medical advice.