CXCL14 belongs to the cytokine gene family which encode secreted proteins involved in immunoregulatory and inflammatory processes. The protein encoded by this gene is structurally related to the CXC (Cys-X-Cys) subfamily of cytokines. Members of this subfamily are characterized by two cysteines separated by a single amino acid. This cytokine displays chemotactic activity for monocytes but not for lymphocytes, dendritic cells, neutrophils or macrophages. It has been implicated that this cytokine is involved in the homeostasis of monocyte-derived macrophages rather than in inflammation. [provided by RefSeq]. CCDS Note: This CCDS representation uses the 5'-most in-frame start codon, which is conserved in higher primates. An alternative downstream start codon, which is more widely conserved and has a stronger Kozak signal, also exists. It is possible that leaky scanning by ribosomes would allow the downstream start codon to be used, at least some of the time. The use of the downstream start codon would result in a protein that is 12 aa shorter at the N-terminus. Both the longer and shorter proteins have N-terminal signal peptides, as predicted by SignalP 3.0. There is no experimental evidence showing which start codon is preferentially used in vivo. Publication Note: This RefSeq record includes a subset of the publications that are available for this gene. Please see the Gene record to access additional publications.