Biology:CCL20

Short description: Mammalian protein found in Homo sapiens

Generic protein structure example

Chemokine (C-C motif) ligand 20 (CCL20) or liver activation regulated chemokine (LARC) or Macrophage Inflammatory Protein-3 (MIP3A) is a small cytokine belonging to the CC chemokine family. It is strongly chemotactic for lymphocytes and weakly attracts neutrophils. CCL20 is implicated in the formation and function of mucosal lymphoid tissues via chemoattraction of lymphocytes and dendritic cells towards the epithelial cells surrounding these tissues. CCL20 elicits its effects on its target cells by binding and activating the chemokine receptor CCR6.

Gene expression of CCL20 can be induced by microbial factors such as lipopolysaccharide (LPS), and inflammatory cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor and interferon-γ, and down-regulated by IL-10. CCL20 is expressed in several tissues with highest expression observed in peripheral blood lymphocytes, lymph nodes, liver, appendix, and fetal lung and lower levels in thymus, testis, prostate and gut. The gene for CCL20 (scya20) is located on chromosome 2 in humans.

Recent research in an animal model of multiple sclerosis known as experimental autoimmune encephalitis (EAE) demonstrated that regional neural activation can create "gates" for pathogenic CD4+ T cells to enter the CNS by increasing CCL20 expression, especially at L5. Sensory nerve stimulation, elicited by using muscles in the leg or electrical stimulation as in Arima et al., 2012, activates sympathetic neurons whose axons run through the dorsal root ganglia containing cell bodies of the stimulated afferent sensory nerve. Sympathetic neuronal activity activates IL-6 amplifier resulting in increased regional CCL20 expression and subsequent pathogenic CD4+ T cell accumulation at the same spinal cord level. CCL20 expression was observed to be dependent on IL-6 amplifier activation, which is dependent on NF-κB and STAT3 activation. This research provides evidence for a critical role for CCL20 in autoimmune pathogenesis of the central nervous system.

Further reading

• Matoba R; Okubo K; Hori N et al. (1994). "The addition of 5'-coding information to a 3'-directed cDNA library improves analysis of gene expression". Gene 146 (2): 199–207. doi:10.1016/0378-1119(94)90293-3. PMID 8076819. 
• Rossi DL; Vicari AP; Franz-Bacon K et al. (1997). "Identification through bioinformatics of two new macrophage proinflammatory human chemokines: MIP-3alpha and MIP-3beta". J. Immunol. 158 (3): 1033–6. doi:10.4049/jimmunol.158.3.1033. PMID 9013939. 
• Hieshima K; Imai T; Opdenakker G et al. (1997). "Molecular cloning of a novel human CC chemokine liver and activation-regulated chemokine (LARC) expressed in liver. Chemotactic activity for lymphocytes and gene localization on chromosome 2". J. Biol. Chem. 272 (9): 5846–5853. doi:10.1074/jbc.272.9.5846. PMID 9038201. 
• Hromas R; Gray PW; Chantry D et al. (1997). "Cloning and characterization of exodus, a novel beta-chemokine". Blood 89 (9): 3315–22. PMID 9129037. 
• Baba M; Imai T; Nishimura M et al. (1997). "Identification of CCR6, the specific receptor for a novel lymphocyte-directed CC chemokine LARC". J. Biol. Chem. 272 (23): 14893–14898. doi:10.1074/jbc.272.23.14893. PMID 9169459. 
• Liao F; Alderson R; Su J et al. (1997). "STRL22 is a receptor for the CC chemokine MIP-3alpha". Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 236 (1): 212–217. doi:10.1006/bbrc.1997.6936. PMID 9223454. https://zenodo.org/record/1229484. 
• Power CA; Church DJ; Meyer A et al. (1997). "Cloning and characterization of a specific receptor for the novel CC chemokine MIP-3alpha from lung dendritic cells". J. Exp. Med. 186 (6): 825–835. doi:10.1084/jem.186.6.825. PMID 9294137. 
• Tanaka Y; Imai T; Baba M et al. (1999). "Selective expression of liver and activation-regulated chemokine (LARC) in intestinal epithelium in mice and humans". Eur. J. Immunol. 29 (2): 633–642. doi:10.1002/(SICI)1521-4141(199902)29:02<633::AID-IMMU633>3.0.CO;2-I. PMID 10064080. 
• "Cutting edge: immature dendritic cells generated from monocytes in the presence of TGF-beta 1 express functional C-C chemokine receptor 6". J. Immunol. 163 (4): 1737–41. 1999. doi:10.4049/jimmunol.163.4.1737. PMID 10438902. 
• Yang D; Chertov O; Bykovskaia SN et al. (1999). "Beta-defensins: linking innate and adaptive immunity through dendritic and T cell CCR6". Science 286 (5439): 525–528. doi:10.1126/science.286.5439.525. PMID 10521347. 
• Charbonnier AS; Kohrgruber N; Kriehuber E et al. (2000). "Macrophage inflammatory protein 3alpha is involved in the constitutive trafficking of epidermal langerhans cells". J. Exp. Med. 190 (12): 1755–1768. doi:10.1084/jem.190.12.1755. PMID 10601351. 
• Schutyser E; Struyf S; Menten P et al. (2000). "Regulated production and molecular diversity of human liver and activation-regulated chemokine/macrophage inflammatory protein-3 alpha from normal and transformed cells". J. Immunol. 165 (8): 4470–7. doi:10.4049/jimmunol.165.8.4470. PMID 11035086. 
• Hirose J; Kawashima H; Yoshie O et al. (2001). "Versican interacts with chemokines and modulates cellular responses". J. Biol. Chem. 276 (7): 5228–5234. doi:10.1074/jbc.M007542200. PMID 11083865. 
• Nakayama T; Fujisawa R; Yamada H et al. (2001). "Inducible expression of a CC chemokine liver- and activation-regulated chemokine (LARC)/macrophage inflammatory protein (MIP)-3 alpha/CCL20 by epidermal keratinocytes and its role in atopic dermatitis". Int. Immunol. 13 (1): 95–103. doi:10.1093/intimm/13.1.95. PMID 11133838. 
• Nelson RT; Boyd J; Gladue RP et al. (2001). "Genomic organization of the CC chemokine mip-3alpha/CCL20/larc/exodus/SCYA20, showing gene structure, splice variants, and chromosome localization". Genomics 73 (1): 28–37. doi:10.1006/geno.2001.6482. PMID 11352563. 
• Tohyama M; Shirakara Y; Yamasaki K et al. (2001). "Differentiated keratinocytes are responsible for TNF-alpha regulated production of macrophage inflammatory protein 3alpha/CCL20, a potent chemokine for Langerhans cells". J. Dermatol. Sci. 27 (2): 130–139. doi:10.1016/S0923-1811(01)00127-X. PMID 11532377. 
• Giannini SL; Hubert P; Doyen J et al. (2002). "Influence of the mucosal epithelium microenvironment on Langerhans cells: implications for the development of squamous intraepithelial lesions of the cervix". Int. J. Cancer 97 (5): 654–659. doi:10.1002/ijc.10084. PMID 11807793. 
• Casamayor-Pallejà M; Mondière P; Verschelde C et al. (2002). "BCR ligation reprograms B cells for migration to the T zone and B-cell follicle sequentially". Blood 99 (6): 1913–1921. doi:10.1182/blood.V99.6.1913. PMID 11877260. 
• Schmuth M; Neyer S; Rainer C et al. (2002). "Expression of the C-C chemokine MIP-3 alpha/CCL20 in human epidermis with impaired permeability barrier function". Exp. Dermatol. 11 (2): 135–142. doi:10.1034/j.1600-0625.2002.110205.x. PMID 11994140. 
• Liao F; Shirakawa AK; Foley JF et al. (2002). "Human B cells become highly responsive to macrophage-inflammatory protein-3 alpha/CC chemokine ligand-20 after cellular activation without changes in CCR6 expression or ligand binding". J. Immunol. 168 (10): 4871–80. doi:10.4049/jimmunol.168.10.4871. PMID 11994436. 

External links

• Human CCL20 genome location and CCL20 gene details page in the UCSC Genome Browser.