Canadian Medical Guide > Chemicals and Drugs > Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Antirheumatic Agents, and Inflammation Mediators > Inflammation Mediators > Chemokines Terms and Definitions

Chemokines

Medical Definition:	Class of pro-inflammatory cytokines that have the ability to attract and activate leukocytes. They can be divided into at least three structural branches: C; (CHEMOKINES, C); CC; (CHEMOKINES, CC); and CXC; (CHEMOKINES, CXC); according to variations in a shared cysteine motif.
Guide Notes:	a class of cytokines that attract & activate leukocytes; chemokines stands for CHEMOtactic cytoKINES; GEN or unspecified; prefer specifics
Previously Indexed:	Chemotactic Factors (1992-1995),Cytokines (1992-1995)

Chemokines Categories.

	Chemokines, C - Group of chemokines without adjacent cysteines that are chemoattractants for lymphocytes only.
	Chemokines, CC - Group of chemokines with adjacent cysteines that are chemoattractants for lymphocytes, monocytes, eosinophils, basophils but not neutrophils.
	Chemokines, CX3C - Group of chemokines with the first two cysteines separated by three amino acids. CX3C chemokines are chemotactic for natural killer cells, monocytes, and activated T-cells.
	Chemokines, CXC - Group of chemokines with paired cysteines separated by a different amino acid. CXC chemokines are chemoattractants for neutrophils but not monocytes.
	Interleukin-8 - A cytokine that activates neutrophils and attracts neutrophils and T-lymphocytes. It is released by several cell types including monocytes, macrophages, T-lymphocytes, fibroblasts, endothelial cells, and keratinocytes by an inflammatory stimulus. IL-8 is a member of the beta-thromboglobulin superfamily and structurally related to platelet factor 4.
	Macrophage Inflammatory Proteins - Heparin-binding proteins that exhibit a number of inflammatory and immunoregulatory activities. Originally identified as secretory products of macrophages, these chemokines are produced by a variety of cell types including neutrophils, fibroblasts, and epithelial cells. They likely play a significant role in respiratory tract defenses.
	Monocyte Chemoattractant Proteins - Chemokines that are chemoattractants for monocytes. These CC chemokines (cysteines adjacent) number at least three including MONOCYTE CHEMOATTRACTANT PROTEIN-1.
	RANTES - A chemokine that is a chemoattractant for eosinophils, monocytes, and lymphocytes. It is a potent and selective eosinophil chemotaxin that is stored in and released from platelets and activated T-cells.

Chemokines Medical Definitions and Terms

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