L-selectin: An emerging player in chemokine function

The emigration of leukocytes across the blood-endothelium barrier and their subsequent transmigration through the interstitium is a complex process that is vital for maintaining the efficiency of the body's innate and adaptive immunity. The chemokines, a family of low-molecular-weight chemoattractant cytokines, are well recognized to be key players in this process. However, recent investigations have highlighted an important role played by the selectin family of adhesion molecules in enhancing chemokine functions. This review summarizes the in vitro and in vivo studies that support this growing notion. It discusses chemotaxis in the context of the phosphoinositide 3-kinase and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase pathways, and their relation to several chemoattractants (i.e., interleukin-8, leukotriene-B-4, formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine, keratinocyte-derived cytokine, and macrophage inflammatory protein-2), the possible role played by L-selectin, and finally how chemotaxis can be altered in different inflammatory settings, such as lipopolysaccharide-mediated endotoxemia or chronic vasculitis.