This antimicrobial gene is one of several Cys-Cys (CC) cytokine genes clustered on the q arm of chromosome 16. Cytokines are a family of secreted proteins involved in immunoregulatory and inflammatory processes. The CC cytokines are proteins characterized by two adjacent cysteines. The cytokine enco
ded by this gene displays chemotactic activity for T lymphocytes, but not monocytes or granulocytes. The product of this gene binds to chemokine receptors CCR4 and CCR8. This chemokine plays important roles in T cell development in thymus as well as in trafficking and activation of mature T cells. [provided by RefSeq, Sep 2014]