Alternative titles; symbols
HGNC Approved Gene Symbol: CCL17
Cytogenetic location: 16q21 Genomic coordinates (GRCh38): 16:57,396,093-57,416,063 (from NCBI)
Chemokines are small secreted polypeptides that play important roles in a wide range of inflammatory and immunologic processes by recruiting selected subsets of leukocytes. TARC (CCL17) is a specific functional ligand for CCR4 (604836), and CCR4 is the specific receptor for TARC selectively expressed on T cells (Imai et al., 1997).
Imai et al. (1996) used a signal sequence trap method to clone the SCYA17 gene, which they designated TARC (thymus and activation-regulated chemokine). The cDNA encodes a highly basic peptide of 94 amino acids with a calculated molecular weight of 10,507 Da. The deduced polypeptide contains a signal sequence, and the putative mature protein shares sequence similarity with other CC chemokines: 29% identity with RANTES (SCYA5; 187011); 28% identity with MIP1-beta (SCYA4; 182284) and MCP3 (SCYA7; 158106); 26% with MIP1-alpha (SCYA3; 182283); 24% with I309 (SCYA1; 182281), MCP1 (SCYA2; 158105), and MCP2 (SCYA8; 602283).
Imai et al. (1996) showed that TARC is expressed transiently in phytohemagglutinin-stimulated peripheral blood mononuclear cells and constitutively in thymus. Radiolabeled recombinant TARC bound specifically to T-cell lines and peripheral T cells but not to monocytes or granulocytes. TARC protein induced chemotaxis in T-cell lines Hut78 and Hut102. Pretreatment of Hut78 with pertussis toxin abolished the TARC-induced cell migration, suggesting the effect is mediated by a Gi or Go subclass G protein-coupled receptor.
By receptor binding analysis, Imai et al. (1997) showed that CCR4 (604836) is a specific receptor for CCL17. CCL17 competed with a fusion protein for CCR4 binding, while competition was not observed for SCYA2, SCYA3, SCYA4, SCYA5, and SCYA20 (601960).
Nomiyama et al. (1997) mapped the SCYA17 gene to chromosome 16q13 by PCR of a radiation hybrid panel. Nomiyama et al. (1998) demonstrated that the SCYD1 (601880) gene is clustered on 16q13 with SCYA22 (602957) and SCYA17. The localization was achieved by analysis of somatic cell hybrids containing various portions of human chromosome 16 with PCR. Study of BAC clones suggested that the 3 genes are located within a short segment, probably 200 kb or less. This supported their close evolutionary relationship.
Imai, T., Baba, M., Nishimura, M., Kakizaki, M., Takagi, S., Yoshie, O. The T cell-directed CC chemokine TARC is a highly specific biological ligand for CC chemokine receptor 4. J. Biol. Chem. 272: 15036-15042, 1997. [PubMed: 9169480] [Full Text: https://doi.org/10.1074/jbc.272.23.15036]
Imai, T., Yoshida, T., Baba, M., Nishimura, M., Kakizaki, M., Yoshie, O. Molecular cloning of a novel T cell-directed CC chemokine expressed in thymus by signal sequence trap using Epstein-Barr virus vector. J. Biol. Chem. 271: 21514-21521, 1996. [PubMed: 8702936] [Full Text: https://doi.org/10.1074/jbc.271.35.21514]
Nomiyama, H., Imai, T., Kusuda, J., Miura, R., Callen, D. F., Yoshie, O. Human chemokines fractalkine (SCYD1), MDC (SCYA22) and TARC (SCYA17) are clustered on chromosome 16q13. Cytogenet. Cell Genet. 81: 10-11, 1998. [PubMed: 9691168] [Full Text: https://doi.org/10.1159/000015000]
Nomiyama, H., Imai, T., Kusuda, J., Miura, R., Callen, D. F., Yoshie, O. Assignment of the human CC chemokine gene TARC (SCYA17) to chromosome 16q13. Genomics 40: 211-213, 1997. [PubMed: 9070951] [Full Text: https://doi.org/10.1006/geno.1996.4552]