This antimicrobial gene is part of a chemokine superfamily that encodes secreted proteins involved in immunoregulatory and inflammatory processes. The superfamily is divided into four subfamilies based on the arrangement of the N-terminal cysteine residues of the mature peptide. This chemokine, a member of the CXC subfamily, is expressed at sites of inflammation and may suppress hematopoietic progenitor cell proliferation. [provided by RefSeq, Sep 2014].