ABSTRACT
Macrophages play a pivotal role in biological communication between cells in the hematopoietic system and in generation of the inflammatory response. This chapter reviews knowledge of the biological role of the macrophage inflammatory protein family in terms of its structure, function and clinical relevance. The possibility that Macrophage inflammatory protein (MIP)-1α is involved in regulating growth and differentiation of other multipotent stem cell populations during development was first discussed by G. J. Graham and I. B. Pragnell. A major limitation of the potential clinical utility of MIP-1α is its tendency to form large, heterogeneous, multimeric complexes. The possibility that MIP-1α is involved in regulating growth and differentiation of other multipotent stem cell populations during development was first discussed by Graham and Pragnell. The pleiotropic activities of these chemokines suggest that they play an important role in normal homeostasis and in the pathobiology of a number of disease states.
