About RANTES
This gene is one of several chemokine genes clustered on the q-arm of chromosome 17. Chemokines form a superfamily of 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 CC subfamily, functions as a chemoattractant for blood monocytes, memory T helper cells and eosinophils. It causes the release of histamine from basophils and activates eosinophils. This cytokine is one of the major HIV-suppressive factors produced by CD8+ cells. It functions as one of the natural ligands for the chemokine receptor chemokine (C-C motif) receptor 5 (CCR5), and it suppresses in vitro replication of the R5 strains of HIV-1, which use CCR5 as a coreceptor. Alternative splicing results in multiple transcript variants that encode different isoforms. [provided by RefSeq, Jul 2013]

About DyLight 550
DyLight™ 550 has an excitation peak at 562 nm and an emission peak at 576 nm and is spectrally similar to Alexa Fluor™ 546, Alexa Fluor™ 555, Cy3 and TRITC. DyLight™ 550 is most commonly used in flow cytometery and fluorescence microscopy applications.