Chemokines as modulators of neuroendocrine functions.

Chemokines are small secreted proteins with chemoattractant properties for immune cells. Besides their role in the immune system, chemokines and their receptors may play important roles in the central nervous system. Neurodegenerative disorders that involve neuroinflammation such as multiple sclerosis, stroke, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and HIV-associated dementia are commonly associated with local upregulation and release of chemokines. However, recent work has established that certain chemokines, constitutively expressed in the brain, exert functions in the brain that are distinct from inflammation. These chemokines regulate neuronal migration during brain development, modulate neuronal activity and play a role in various neurodegenerative diseases, pain and more recently in neuroendocrine functions. All these novel aspects, mainly focused on the chemokine stromal cell-derived factor-1/CXCL12 and its receptor CXCR4, were presented by pioneers in the field during the symposium held at the sixth International Congress of Neuroendocrinology in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA in June 2006.