Key role of chemokines and chemokine receptors in inflammation, immunity, neoplasia, and infectious disease

Leukocyte homing is a complex, multistep process involving the coordinated expression of adhesion molecules and certain chemotactic cytokines, termed chemokines. Although chemokines initially burst into the literature as pote nt inflammatory mediators, it is now clear that they are involved in a vari ety of processes including lymphocyte maturation, angiogenesis, and tumor g rowth. Furthermore, a variety of important pathogens manipulate various che mokine/receptor pathways to infect the host and evade the immune system.