B-Lymphocyte Chemoattractant 1 (BLC1)

Chemokine (C-X-C motif) ligand 13 (CXCL13) is a small cytokine belonging to the CXC chemokine family that is also known as B lymphocyte chemoattractant (BLC). CXCL13 and its receptor CXCR5 control the organization of B cells within follicles of lymphoid tissues.This chemokine is secreted by dendritic cells, and is expressed highly in the liver, spleen, lymph nodes, and gut of humans.The gene for CXCL13 is located on human chromosome 4 in a cluster of other CXC chemokines.In T-lymphocytes, CXCL13 expression is thought to reflect a germinal center origin of the T-cell. Hence, expression of CXCL13 in T-cell lymphomas, such as Angioimmunoblastic T-cell Lymphoma, is thought to reflect a germinal center origin of the neoplastic T-cells.