Chemokines — Chemotactic Cytokines That Mediate Inflammation

The attraction of leukocytes to tissues is essential for inflammation and the host response to infection. The process is controlled by chemokines, which are chemotactic cytokines. This review introduces the burgeoning family of cytokines, with special emphasis on their role in the pathophysiology of disease and their potential as targets for therapy.Structure and Function of ChemokinesOver 40 chemokines have been identified to date, most of them in the past few years. The relations among chemokines were not initially appreciated, which led to an idiosyncratic nomenclature consisting of many acronyms. When initially identified, these proteins had no known biologic . . .