CXCL14 expression during chick embryonic development

Chemokines are small secreted signalling molecules best known for their roles as chemoattractants for cells of the immune system. CXCL12 and its receptor CXCR4 comprise one chemokine signalling pathway with essential functions in non-immune cell types during embryonic development. CXCL 14,a chemokine-encoding gene related to CXCL12, is developmentally regulated in zebrafish and Xenopus embryos, but its role during embryogenesis remains unknown. Here we describe the embryonic expression pattern of CXCL14 in an amniote, the chick. Although expression in some regions is conserved with that of fish and frog, chick CXCL14 displays a complex pattern of expression in several novel sites. We analyse the expression pattern in the branchial arches, trigeminal placode and ganglion, inner ear, dorsal midline of the brain, somites, trunk neural tube and limb bud. Expression in several domains raises the possibility that CXCL14 may be involved in some of the same developmental events during which CXCL12-CXCR4 signalling is known to play a role.