CCL21 and prognosis in acute coronary syndrome

Abstract

syndromes (ACS) has improved markedly in the last decades through the development of new biomarkers such as the troponins, natriuretic peptides and risk stratification scoring systems. However, there has been a shift in the epidemiological characteristics of myocardial infarction (MI) with an increasing number of patients presenting with non-ST-segment elevation MI (NSTEMI) where the ability to predict shortand longterm outcomes is more limited [1, 2] . Exploration of novel biomarkers reflecting activated pathways not accounted for by current risk markers could improve diagnosis and prognostic classification of patients with ACS and identify new targets for therapy. Chemokines are small heparin-binding proteins that together with their chemokine receptors are critical mediators of cell migration during immune surveillance and homeostasis. The homeostatic chemokines, CCL19 and CCL21 and their common receptor CCR7, play a pivotal role in T cell and dendritic-cell trafficking into lymphoid tissue, and their function was originally thought to be restricted to immune cell homeostasis. However, findings during the last decade suggest that these chemokines may have pleiotropic effects and are involved in inflammatory responses in non-lymphoid tissue such as atherosclerotic lesions implying a complex Editorial