ABSTRACT
In the early 1980s, Cruikshank and Center described T-lymphocyte chemoattractant activity in the supernatants of concanavalin-A-stimulated peripheral blood lymphocytes (1,2). The major T-cell chemoattractant activity from these supernatants was characterized and later designated interleukin-16 (IL-16), previously termed lymphocyte chemoattractant factor (LCF).While initially found to be the product of antigen-, mitogen-(concanavalin A), and histamine-stimulated CD8 T cells, IL-16 has since been identified in CD4 T cells (3), B cells (4), eosinophils (5), mast cells (6), dendritic cells (7), fibroblasts (8), and epithelial cells of the upper and lower airways (9,10) and gastrointestinal tract (11).
