Epithelial-derived neutrophil-activating peptide 78 (ENA-78) is a small cytokine belonging to the CXC chemokine family. It is produced following stimulation of cells with the inflammatory cytokines interleukin-1 or tumor necrosis factor-alpha. Expression of ENA-78 has also been observed in eosinophils, and can be inhibited with the type II interferon,IFN-γ. ENA-78 stimulates the chemotaxis of neutrophils possessing angiogenic properties. It plays a role in reducing sensitivity to sunburn pain in some subjects, and could be a potential target used to understand more about pain in other inflammatory conditions. ENA-78 is well known to have chemotactic and activating functions on neutrophils, mainly during acute inflammatory responses. It can signal through the CXCR2 receptor.
Recombinant ENA-78/CXCL5 produced in 293 cells is a single polypeptide chain containing 78 amino acids. rhENA-78/CXCL5 has a molecular mass of 8.5 kDa analyzed by reducing SDS-PAGE and is obtained by chromatographic techniques at ExCell Bio.