Characterization of Chemokine Function in Animal Models of Diseases

The role of chemokines in human diseases has been identified primarily by the correlation of increased chemokine protein or mRNA expression during disease development. The identification of increased chemokine expression is only the first step in determining their role in the regulation of inflammatory responses. More recently, several laboratories, including our own, have begun examining the extent of involvement of particular chemokines during disease progression utilizing several animal models of diseases. The strategy our laboratories have chosen to follow has been the identification and characterization followed by the neutralization of particular chemokines within animal disease models. The following review will outline specific roles of chemokines in several animal models that relate to both acute and chronic inflammatory diseases, as well as novel mechanisms of angiogenic control with C-x-C chemokines during tumorigenesis.