| chemokine (C-X-C motif) ligand 2 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Identifiers | |||||||
| Symbol | CXCL2 | ||||||
| Alt. symbols | SCYB2, GRO2, GROb, MIP-2a, MGSA-b, CINC-2a | ||||||
| NCBI gene | 2920 | ||||||
| HGNC | 4603 | ||||||
| OMIM | 139110 | ||||||
| RefSeq | NM_002089 | ||||||
| UniProt | P19875 | ||||||
| Other data | |||||||
| Locus | Chr. 4 q21 | ||||||
| |||||||
Chemokine (C-X-C motif) ligand 2 (CXCL2) is a small cytokine belonging to the CXC chemokine family that is also called macrophage inflammatory protein 2-alpha (MIP2-alpha), Growth-regulated protein beta (Gro-beta) and Gro oncogene-2 (Gro-2). CXCL2 is 90% identical in amino acid sequence as a related chemokine, CXCL1. This chemokine is secreted by monocytes and macrophages and is chemotactic for polymorphonuclear leukocytes and hematopoietic stem cells. [5] [6] [7] The gene for CXCL2 is located on human chromosome 4 in a cluster of other CXC chemokines. [8] CXCL2 mobilizes cells by interacting with a cell surface chemokine receptor called CXCR2. [7]
CXCL2, like related chemokines, is also a powerful neutrophil chemoattractant and is involved in many immune responses including wound healing, cancer metastasis, and angiogenesis. [9] A study was published in 2013 testing the role of CXCL2, CXCL3, and CXCL1 in the migration of airway smooth muscle cells (ASMCs) migration which plays a significant role in asthma. The results of this study showed that CXCL2 and CXCL3 both help with the mediation of normal and asthmatic ASMC migration through different mechanisms. [9]
CXCL2 in combination with the CXCR4 inhibitor plerixafor rapidly mobilizes hematopoietic stem cells into the peripheral blood. [10]
This rapid peripheral blood stem cell mobilization regimen entered Phase 2 clinical trials in 2021 [11] [12] in development by Magenta Therapeutics [13] as a new method to collect stem cells for bone marrow transplantation.