GCP-2 Background Information
Chemokines are members of a superfamily of inducible, secreted, pro-inflammatory cytokines. Members of the chemokine family exhibit 20% to 50% homology in their predicted amino acid sequences and are divided into four subfamilies. In the C-X-C or å subfamily, the first two of four cysteine motifs are separated by another amino acid residue. The C-X-C chemokine subfamily includes IL-8, GROå/∫/© (and the murine homologs KC, MIP-2å and MIP-2∫), platelet basic protein, ENA-78, GCP-2, PF4, IP-10 (and its murine homolog, CRG) and MIG. Granulocyte Chemotactic Protein 2 (GCP-2) acts as a potent chemoattractant of neutrophils in the course of acute inflammation. GCP-2 is highly produced by MG-63 osteosarcoma cells and induces neovascularization, suggesting that it may be involved in tumor development and metastasis formation. GCP-2 is the only ELR+-CXC chemokine, except for IL-8, that is an effective ligand for CXCR1 and CXCR2.
