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Cathelicidin (LL-37) causes coronary artery lesions in Kawasaki disease by activating TLR4-NF-κB-NLRP3 signaling
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  • Feifei Si,
  • Yaheng Lu,
  • Yizhou Wen,
  • Tingting Chen,
  • YIngzi Zhang,
  • Yanfeng Yang
Feifei Si
Chengdu Women's and Children's Central Hospital
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Yaheng Lu
Chengdu Women and Children's Central Hospital
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Yizhou Wen
Chengdu Women's and Children's Central Hospital
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Tingting Chen
Chengdu Women's and Children's Central Hospital
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YIngzi Zhang
Chengdu Women's and Children's Central Hospital
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Yanfeng Yang
Chengdu Women's and Children's Central Hospital

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Abstract

Background: Kawasaki disease (KD) is a kind of vasculitis with an unidentified etiology. Cathelicidin (LL-37) may be involved in the development of the KD process; therefore, further research to investigate the molecular mechanism of LL-37 involvement in KD is warranted. Methods: Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to detect the levels of TNF-α, IL-1β, NLRP3, and LL-37 in the sera of healthy subjects, children with KD, and children with pneumonia. Subsequently, human recombinant LL-37 or/and TLR4-specific inhibitor TAK-242 stimulated HCAECs cells, CCK-8 was used to detect cell proliferation, flow cytometry to detect apoptosis, transmission electron microscopy to observe cytoskeletal changes, Transwell to measure cell migration ability, ELISA to detect inflammatory factor levels, Western blotting to analyze protein levels of TLR4 and NF-κB p-65, and qRT-PCR to determine LL-37, NLRP3 mRNA levels. Results: In this study, we found that the level of LL-37 was highly expressed in the serum of children with KD, and after LL-37 stimulation, apoptosis was significantly increased in HCAECs, and the expression levels of TLR4, NLRP3 and inflammatory factors in cells were significantly enhanced. Intervention with the TLR4-specific inhibitor TAK-242 significantly alleviated the LL-37 effects on cellular inflammation, TLR4, NLRP3 promotion effect. Conclusions: Our data suggest that LL-37 induces an inflammatory response in endothelial cells via TLR4-NF-κB, leading to coronary artery injury in KD, providing a potential target to treat KD.
17 May 2023Submitted to Immunity, Inflammation and Disease
25 May 2023Submission Checks Completed
25 May 2023Assigned to Editor
25 May 2023Review(s) Completed, Editorial Evaluation Pending
31 May 2023Reviewer(s) Assigned
30 Jul 2023Editorial Decision: Revise Minor
13 Aug 20231st Revision Received
18 Aug 2023Submission Checks Completed
18 Aug 2023Assigned to Editor
18 Aug 2023Review(s) Completed, Editorial Evaluation Pending
19 Aug 2023Reviewer(s) Assigned
13 Sep 2023Editorial Decision: Accept
Sep 2023Published in Immunity, Inflammation and Disease volume 11 issue 9. https://doi.org/10.1002/iid3.1032