title: The Role of Cathelicidin LL-37 in Cancer Development.
abstract: LL-37 is a C-terminal peptide proteolytically released from 18 kDa human cathelicidin protein (hCAP18). Chronic infections, inflammation, tissue injury and tissue regeneration are all linked with neoplastic growth, and involve LL-37 antibacterial and immunomodulatory functions. Such a link points to the possible involvement of LL-37 peptide in carcinogenesis. An increasing amount of evidence suggests that LL-37 can have two different and contradictory effects--promotion or inhibition of tumor growth. The mechanisms are tissue-specific, complex, and depend mostly on the ability of LL-37 to act as a ligand for different membrane receptors whose expression varies on different cancer cells. Overexpression of LL-37 was found to promote development and progression of ovarian, lung and breast cancers, and to suppress tumorigenesis in colon and gastric cancer. This review explores and summarizes the current views on how LL-37 contributes to immunity, pathophysiology and cell signaling involved in malignant tumor growth.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiological and Nanobiomedical Engineering, Medical University of Białystok, Mickiewicza 2c, 15-222, Białystok, Poland.
authors.forename: Ewelina
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Piktel
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiological and Nanobiomedical Engineering, Medical University of Białystok, Mickiewicza 2c, 15-222, Białystok, Poland.
authors.forename: Katarzyna
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Niemirowicz
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiological and Nanobiomedical Engineering, Medical University of Białystok, Mickiewicza 2c, 15-222, Białystok, Poland.
authors.forename: Urszula
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Wnorowska
authors.affiliation: Holy Cross Oncology Center of Kielce, Kielce, Poland.
authors.forename: Marzena
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wątek
authors.affiliation: Holy Cross Oncology Center of Kielce, Kielce, Poland.
authors.forename: Tomasz
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wollny
authors.affiliation: Holy Cross Oncology Center of Kielce, Kielce, Poland.
authors.forename: Katarzyna
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Głuszek
authors.affiliation: The Faculty of Health Sciences of The Jan Kochanowski University in Kielce, Kielce, Poland.
authors.forename: Stanisław
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Góźdź
authors.affiliation: Department of Integrative Biology and Pharmacology, The University of Texas Medical School, Houston, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Ilya
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Levental
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiological and Nanobiomedical Engineering, Medical University of Białystok, Mickiewicza 2c, 15-222, Białystok, Poland. buckirobert@gmail.com.|Department of Physiology, Pathophysiology and Microbiology of Infections, Faculty of Health Sciences of The Jan Kochanowski University in Kielce, Kielce, Poland. buckirobert@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bucki
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D023181:Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides / Q000276:immunology*; D063646:Carcinogenesis; D048708:Cell Growth Processes; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D007113:Immunity, Innate; D056747:Immunomodulation; D009928:Organ Specificity; D015398:Signal Transduction; D054804:Cathelicidins
chemical_list: D023181:Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides; D054804:Cathelicidins
keywords: Cancer; Carcinogenesis; Cathelicidin; Immune system; LL-37