title: Homing chemokines in rheumatoid arthritis.
abstract: In about 20% of patients with rheumatoid arthritis, B and T lymphocytes recruited into the inflamed synovium are organized into complex microstructures, which resemble secondary lymphoid organs. The development of such lymphoid aggregates with germinal centers appears to contribute to the pathogenesis of the disease. Growing evidence indicates that chemokines and their receptors control the recruitment and positioning of leukocytes as well as their organization into node-like lymphoid structures. Here, we comment on recent studies highlighting the importance of chemokines in rheumatoid arthritis, in particular of B-cell-activating chemokine-1 in lymphoid neogenesis in the inflamed synovium.
authors.affiliation: Theodor-Kocher Institute, University of Bern, Switzerland. pius.loetscher@tki.unibe.ch
authors.forename: Pius
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Loetscher
authors.forename: Bernhard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Moser
mesh_terms: D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000502:physiology*; D054382:Chemokine CXCL13; D019743:Chemokines, CXC / Q000502:physiology*; D002634:Chemotaxis, Leukocyte; D006801:Humans; D019707:Receptors, Chemokine / Q000502:physiology*; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: C110663:CXCL13 protein, human; D054382:Chemokine CXCL13; D019743:Chemokines, CXC; D019707:Receptors, Chemokine