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CCL20, like human β-defensin (hBD)-2, is a potent chemoattractant for CCR6-positive immature dendritic cells and T cells in addition to recently found antimicrobial activities. We previously demonstrated that IL-17 is the most potent cytokine to induce an apical secretion and expression of hBD-2 by human airway epithelial cells, and the induction is JAK/NF-κB-dependent. Similar to hBD-2, IL-17 also induced CCL20 expression, but the nature of the induction has not been elucidated. Compared with a panel of cytokines (IL-1α, 1β, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 18, IFN-γ, GM-CSF, and TNF-α), IL-17 was as potent as IL-1α, 1β, and TNF-α, with a time-and dose-dependent phenomenon in stimulating CCL20 expression in both well-differentiated primary human and mouse airway epithelial cell culture systems. The stimulation was largely dependent on the treatment of polarized epithelial cultures from the …