Transcriptional regulation of CCL20 expression

Chemokines are key mediators of leukocyte recruitment during immunoregulatory and proinflammatory responses. CCL20 is a cysteine–cysteine chemokine that was originally shown to be chemotactic for immature dendritic cells, effector or memory CD4+ T lymphocytes, and B lymphocytes. Additionally, CCL20 and its only receptor (CCR6) are exploited by cancer cells for migration and metastatic spread and play important roles in the development and progression of cancer. However, it still remains unclear how the activity of the CCL20/CCR6 axis is controlled and regulated at the transcriptional level. The CCL20 promoter region contains a transcription start site, a nuclear factor (NF)-κB binding site, a CCAAT/enhancer-binding proteins binding site, an activator protein-1 binding sites, and a specificity protein 1 (Sp1)-binding site. In this review, we outline recent advances in our understanding of the structure of the CCL20 promoter region and discuss the transcriptional regulation of the CCL20 promoter.