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Involvement of CC chemokine ligand 18 (CCL18) in normal and pathological processes
Author(s) -
Schutyser Evemie,
Richmond Ann,
Van Damme Jo
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
journal of leukocyte biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.819
H-Index - 191
eISSN - 1938-3673
pISSN - 0741-5400
DOI - 10.1189/jlb.1204712
Subject(s) - ccl18 , chemokine , chemokine receptor , biology , cxcl2 , immunology , cxcl16 , ccr1 , ccl25 , ccl21 , cc chemokine receptors , immune system , ccl13 , proinflammatory cytokine , inflammation , microbiology and biotechnology
CC chemokine ligand 18 (CCL18) was originally discovered as pulmonary and activation‐regulated chemokine (PARC), dendritic cell (DC)‐chemokine 1 (DC‐CK1), alternative macrophage activation‐associated CC chemokine‐1 (AMAC‐1), and macrophage inflammatory protein‐4 (MIP‐4). CCL18 primarily targets lymphocytes and immature DC, although its agonistic receptor remains unknown so far. CCL18 is mainly expressed by a broad range of monocytes/macrophages and DC. A more profound understanding of the various activation programs and functional phenotypes of these producer cells might give a better insight in the proinflammatory versus anti‐inflammatory role of this CC chemokine. It is interesting that CCL18 is constitutively present at high levels in human plasma and likely contributes to the physiological homing of lymphocytes and DC and to the generation of primary immune responses. Furthermore, enhanced CCL18 production has been demonstrated in several diseases, including various malignancies and inflammatory joint, lung, and skin diseases. The lack of a rodent counterpart for human CCL18 sets all hope on primate animal models to further elucidate the importance of CCL18 in vivo. This review will address these different aspects in more detail.