Chemokines are a family of small proteins that regulate leukocyte infiltration into inflamed tissue and play key roles in the pathogenesis of many diseases. Some chemokines can also reversibly inhibit the proliferation of hematopoietic progenitors. We have previously found that the chemokine CCL21 (Exodus-2/SLC/6Ckine/TCA4) is a potent inhibitor of the proliferation of normal hematopoietic progenitors. In this study we sought to determine whether this inhibition of proliferation could be therapeutically exploited by protecting normal marrow progenitors from the cytotoxicity of the S phase-active chemotherapeutic agent Ara-C.
Hematology/Oncology, Biochemistry/Molecular Biology, and the Walther Oncology Center, Indiana University Medical Center, R4-202, 1044 W. Walnut St., Indianapolis, IN 46202, USA. rhromas@iupui.edu
