The chemokine CX3CL1 was identified as an apoptotic find-me signal by Gregory and colleagues (32), and since has been implicated in cell clearance and tissue repair in a number of tissue settings. Apoptotic cell-derived CX3CL1 stimulates recruitment of CX3CR1+ phagocytes to clear apoptotic debris in lymphoid tissues and the brain (32, 46). Additionally, CX3CL1 from apoptotic cells enhances efferocytosis by stimulating phagocytes to express the eat-me ligand MFG-E8 (47–49). In the context of tissue repair, CX3CL1-CX3CR1 signaling has been shown to play a beneficial role by reducing expression of inflammatory cytokines and enhancing expression of pro-survival (e.g. BCL-2) and antioxidant genes (HO-1) (49–51). Thus release of CX3CL1 from dying cells not only serves to promote ‘clean-up’ of damaged tissues, but also aids in driving expression of genes that are beneficial to the restoration of tissue homeostasis.