CXCL9 is an inflammatory chemokine initially identified by differential screening of a cDNA library from limphokine-activated macrophages. CXCL9 is a CXC chemokine and member of the non-ELR (lacking a Glu-Leu-Arg motif in the N-terminal region) CXC chemokine family. CXCL9 shares the CXCR3 receptor with CXCL10 and CXCL11, and these ligands differ in their receptor-binding and activating properties; CXCL11 is more potent than CXCL10 and CXCL10 is more potent than CXCL9.