JOURNAL OF

Chemokines were originally identified as a family of small proteins having chemoattractive activities on inflammatory cells. Various chemokines are constitutively or inducibly expressed in the brain and are involved in physiological or pathological nerve functions [1,2]. In brain ischemia, head trauma and neurodegenerative diseases, the expression of brain chemokines is altered, which modulates neu-roinflammation and the repair process of damaged nerve tissues [3]. Astrocytes are one of the chemokine-producing cells in the brain. Immunohistochemical observations on damaged nerve tissues showed that production of brain chemokines, including CCL2/monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) and CXCL1/cytokine-induced neutro-phil chemoattractant-1 (CINC-1), increased in astrocytes [4-6]. Astrocyte-derived chemokines act on brain micro