A comprehensive summary of LL-37, the factotum human cathelicidin peptide.
Vandamme. Dieter D; Landuyt. Bart B; Luyten. Walter W; Schoofs. Liliane L
Key Findings
- LL-37 has broad antimicrobial activity against bacteria, fungi, and viruses.
- It acts as an immune signal, attracting immune cells and modulating inflammation.
- The peptide can promote wound healing, stimulate new blood vessel formation, and influence cell death and cancer processes.
Practical Outcomes
- For biohackers, LL-37 is interesting because it touches many health pathways, but the review doesn't give dosing or specific protocols. It mainly serves as background knowledge, suggesting that any future use should be approached cautiously and await more concrete safety and efficacy data.
Summary
LL-37 is a natural human peptide that fights bacteria, fungi, and viruses, and also helps control the immune system, heal wounds, grow new blood vessels, and may affect cancer cells. This review gathers what scientists currently know about these many roles.
Abstract
Cathelicidins are a group of antimicrobial peptides. Since their discovery, it has become clear that they are an exceptional class of peptides, with some members having pleiotropic effects. Not only do they possess an antibacterial, antifungal and antiviral function, they also show a chemotactic and immunostimulatory/-modulatory effect. Moreover, they are capable of inducing wound healing, angiogenesis and modulating apoptosis. Recent insights even indicate for a role of these peptides in cancer. This review provides a comprehensive summary of the most recent and relevant insights concerning the human cathelicidin LL-37.
Study Information
pubmed
2012
2012-11-29T00:00:00.000Z
10.1016/j.cellimm.2012.11.009
545
197