title: The human cathelicidin LL-37 enhances airway mucus production in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
abstract: Airway mucus overproduction is a distinguishing feature of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). LL-37 is the only member of human cathelicidins family of antimicrobial peptides and plays a central role in many immune and inflammatory reactions. Increasing evidence suggests the involvement of LL-37 in the pathogenesis of COPD. Here, we investigated the effects of LL-37 on airway mucus overproduction in COPD. We observed overexpression of both LL-37 and MUC5AC mucin (a major mucin component of mucus) in airways of COPD patients and found a correlation between them. We showed in vitro that LL-37 induces MUC5AC mucin production by airway epithelial NCI-H292 cells in the absence and presence of cigarette smoke extract, with TNF-α converting enzyme (TACE)-EGFR-ERK1/2 pathway and IL-8 required for the induction. Therefore, we concluded that LL-37 enhances the mucus production in COPD airways, thus contributing to the progression of COPD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Respiratory Medicine, Qilu Hospital, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong Province 250012, China.
authors.forename: Yuke
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Respiratory Medicine, Qilu Hospital, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong Province 250012, China.
authors.forename: Yuanyuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: Department of Respiratory Medicine, Qilu Hospital, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong Province 250012, China.
authors.forename: Congcong
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Department of Respiratory Medicine, Qilu Hospital, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong Province 250012, China.
authors.forename: Qin
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Beijing Institute of Radiation Medicine, Beijing 100039, China.
authors.forename: Zhihua
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Beijing Institute of Radiation Medicine, Beijing 100039, China.
authors.forename: Xiujie
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.affiliation: Beijing Institute of Radiation Medicine, Beijing 100039, China. Electronic address: zhumx1228@126.com.
authors.forename: Maoxiang
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Department of Respiratory Medicine, Qilu Hospital, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong Province 250012, China. Electronic address: xiaowei433@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Xiao
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D023181:Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D018450:Disease Progression; D066246:ErbB Receptors / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D020382:Interleukin-18 / Q000502:physiology; D020935:MAP Kinase Signaling System; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D055271:Mucin 5AC / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D009093:Mucus / Q000378:metabolism*; D029424:Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D020545:Respiratory Mucosa / Q000378:metabolism*; D054804:Cathelicidins
chemical_list: D023181:Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides; D020382:Interleukin-18; C524678:MUC5AC protein, human; D055271:Mucin 5AC; C512478:EGFR protein, human; D066246:ErbB Receptors; D054804:Cathelicidins
keywords: COPD; Cathelicidins; EGFR; Mucins; Mucous overproduction; TACE