Many of these mediators have been implicated in SSc pathogenesis including CCL2 and CCL8 in promoting dendritic cell differentiation66, IL6 and IL11 in promoting fibrosis39,59,67, TNFSF4 as genetic predisposition in SSc68, FGF7 in fibroblast activation69, VEGF in vascular dysfunction70, and WNT2 in dermal fibrillin deposition40. The gene discussed is CCL8; the disease is systemic sclerosis.