The nuclear protein HMGB1, a new kind of chemokine?
The chromosomal protein HMGB1 is now regarded as a proinflammatory cytokine. Importantly, HMGB1 has chemotactic activity suggesting its involvement in the early and late events of the inflammatory reaction. Therefore, HMGB1 has all the hallmarks of a chemokine (chemotactic cytokine). We propose to classify HMGB1 into a new group of proteins unrelated structurally to chemokines but having chemokine-like functions, and to name this class CLF (chemokine-like functions). The CLF class should include other unrelated molecules such as urokinase and its receptor, cytokines macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) and interleukin (IL)-6, anaphylatoxin C5a, ribosomal protein S19, and thioredoxin that have similar chemokine-like activities. This innovative concept may lead to the identification of new therapeutic targets.
Degryse
Bernard
B
Department of Cell Biology, Division of Vascular Biology/VB5, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA 92130, USA.
de Virgilio
Maddalena
M
D018925:Chemokines / Q000378:metabolism*; D004247:DNA / Q000378:metabolism; D024243:HMGB1 Protein / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans
D018925:Chemokines; D024243:HMGB1 Protein; D004247:DNA