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Research progress in cytokines with chemokine-like function

Cellular & Molecular Immunology volume 15, pages 660–662 (2018)Cite this article

Cytokines are small proteins secreted by a variety of cells, which regulate not only cell growth and differentiation but also immune function by binding to their corresponding receptors.1 Cytokines mainly include interleukin, colony-stimulating factor (CSF), interferon, tumor necrosis factor, growth factor (GF) and chemokine. Chemokines are a class of cytokines with chemotactic activity and function by binding to G protein-coupled receptors.2 Chemokines and their receptors have important roles in inflammation and tumors by regulating chemotaxis, immunoregulation and the behavior of various cells.3

In addition to the classical chemokines, there is a class of atypical chemokines, known as the chemokine-like function (CLF) family, which possess chemotactic activity but do not have typical chemokine structural features. The members of the CLF family are diverse and include lipids (PAF and LTB4), peptides (C5a and fMLP), proteins (HMGB1) and secreted proteins (macrophage migration inhibitory factor, macrophage-CSF and vascular endothelial GF). Several new cytokines with chemotactic activity, including CKLF1, FAM19A4 and CYTL1 (Figure 1), have been identified in Peking University Center for Human Disease Genomics.

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Figure 1

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Acknowledgements

The work is supported by grant from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (81273233).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Immunology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University Health Science Center, Key Laboratory of Medical Immunology, Ministry of Health (Peking University), 100191, Beijing, China

    Kai Zhang & Wenling Han

  2. Peking, University Center for Human Disease Genomics, 100191, Beijing, China

    Kai Zhang, Shuang Shi & Wenling Han

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Correspondence to Wenling Han.

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Zhang, K., Shi, S. & Han, W. Research progress in cytokines with chemokine-like function. Cell Mol Immunol 15, 660–662 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/cmi.2017.121

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