Cxcl17 is a proinflammatory chemokine and promotes neutrophil trafficking.

CXCL17, a novel member of the CXC chemokine class, has been implicated in several human pathologies, but its role in mediating immune response is not well understood. Characteristic features of immune response include resident macrophages orchestrating successive and structured recruitment of neutrophils and monocytes to the insult site. Here, we show that Cxcl17 knockout (KO) mice, compared to the littermate wildtype (WT) control, were significantly impaired in peritoneal neutrophil recruitment post-lipopolysaccharide (LPS) challenge. Further, the KO mice show dysregulated Cxcl1, Cxcr2, and IL6 levels, all of which directly impact neutrophil recruitment. Importantly, the KO mice showed no difference in monocyte recruitment post LPS-challenge or in peritoneal macrophage levels both in unchallenged and LPS-challenged mice. We conclude that Cxcl17 is a proinflammatory chemokine, and that it plays an important role in the early proinflammatory response by promoting neutrophil recruitment to the insult site.