Crucial biological functions of CCL7 in cancer

Yangyang Liu; Yadi Cai; Li Liu; Yudong Wu; Xiangyang Xiong

doi:10.7717/peerj.4928

Crucial biological functions of CCL7 in cancer

PeerJ. 2018 Jun 14:6:e4928. doi: 10.7717/peerj.4928. eCollection 2018.

Authors

Yangyang Liu^#¹, Yadi Cai^#¹, Li Liu², Yudong Wu³, Xiangyang Xiong²

Affiliations

¹ First Clinical Medical College, School of Medicine, Nanchang University, Nanchang, People's Republic of China.
² Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Nanchang University, Nanchang, People's Republic of China.
³ Department of Breast Surgery, Jiangxi Provincial Cancer Hospital, Nanchang, People's Republic of China.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Chemokine (C-C motif) ligand 7 (CCL7), a CC chemokine, is a chemotactic factor and attractant for various kinds of leukocytes, including monocytes and neutrophils. CCL7 is widely expressed in multiple cell types and can participate in anti-inflammatory responses through binding to its receptors to mediate the recruitment of immune cells. Abnormal CCL7 expression is associated with certain immune diseases. Furthermore, CCL7 plays a pivotal role in tumorigenesis. CCL7 promotes tumor progression by supporting the formation of the tumor microenvironment and facilitating tumor invasion and metastasis, although some studies have suggested that CCL7 has tumor suppressor effects. In this review, we summarize the currently available information regarding the influence of CCL7 on tumors.

Keywords: CCL7; Chemokines; Physiological function; Tumor microenvironment; Tumorigenesis.

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 81760509). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.