Chemokine (C-C motif) ligand 14 (CCL14) is a small

cytokine Cytokines are a broad and loose category of small proteins (~5–25 kDa) important in cell signaling. Cytokines are peptides and cannot cross the lipid bilayer of cells to enter the cytoplasm. Cytokines have been shown to be involved in au ...

belonging to the CC

chemokine Chemokines (), or chemotactic cytokines, are a family of small cytokines or signaling proteins secreted by cells that induce directional movement of leukocytes, as well as other cell types, including endothelial and epithelial cells. In additi ...

family. It is also commonly known as HCC-1. It is produced as a

protein precursor A protein precursor, also called a pro-protein or pro-peptide, is an inactive protein (or peptide) that can be turned into an active form by post-translational modification, such as breaking off a piece of the molecule or adding on another molecule ...

that is processed to generate a mature active

protein Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including catalysing metabolic reactions, DNA replication, res ...

containing 74

amino acid Amino acids are organic compounds that contain both amino and carboxylic acid functional groups. Although hundreds of amino acids exist in nature, by far the most important are the alpha-amino acids, which comprise proteins. Only 22 alpha ...

s that and is 46% identical in amino acid composition to

CCL3 Chemokine (C-C motif) ligand 3 (CCL3) also known as macrophage inflammatory protein 1-alpha (MIP-1-alpha) is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''CCL3'' gene. Function CCL3 is a cytokine belonging to the CC chemokine family that is i ...

and

CCL4 Chemokine (C-C motif) ligands 4 (also CCL4) previously known as macrophage inflammatory protein (MIP-1β), is a protein which in humans is encoded by the ''CCL4'' gene. ''CCL4'' belongs to a cluster of genes located on 17q11-q21 of the chromosom ...

. This chemokine is expressed in various tissues including

spleen The spleen is an organ found in almost all vertebrates. Similar in structure to a large lymph node, it acts primarily as a blood filter. The word spleen comes .

bone marrow Bone marrow is a semi-solid biological tissue, tissue found within the Spongy bone, spongy (also known as cancellous) portions of bones. In birds and mammals, bone marrow is the primary site of new blood cell production (or haematopoiesis). It i ...

liver The liver is a major organ only found in vertebrates which performs many essential biological functions such as detoxification of the organism, and the synthesis of proteins and biochemicals necessary for digestion and growth. In humans, it i ...

muscle Skeletal muscles (commonly referred to as muscles) are organs of the vertebrate muscular system and typically are attached by tendons to bones of a skeleton. The muscle cells of skeletal muscles are much longer than in the other types of mus ...

, and gut. CCL14 activates

monocyte Monocytes are a type of leukocyte or white blood cell. They are the largest type of leukocyte in blood and can differentiate into macrophages and conventional dendritic cells. As a part of the vertebrate innate immune system monocytes also ...

s, but does not induce their

chemotaxis Chemotaxis (from '' chemo-'' + '' taxis'') is the movement of an organism or entity in response to a chemical stimulus. Somatic cells, bacteria, and other single-cell or multicellular organisms direct their movements according to certain chemica ...

. Human CCL14 is located on

chromosome 17 Chromosome 17 is one of the 23 pairs of chromosomes in humans. People normally have two copies of this chromosome. Chromosome 17 spans more than 83 million base pairs (the building material of DNA) and represents between 2.5 and 3% of the total D ...

within a cluster of other chemokines belonging to the CC family.Naruseet al., A YAC contig of the human CC chemokine genes clustered on chromosome 17q11.2. Genomics, 1996, 34: 236-240.

References

Cytokines {{gene-17-stub