Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2015 Jun 8;7(10):1390-402.
doi: 10.4254/wjh.v7.i10.1390.

Chemokines and their receptors play important roles in the development of hepatocellular carcinoma

Chun-Min Liang  1 , Long Chen  1 , Heng Hu  1 , Hui-Ying Ma  1 , Ling-Ling Gao  1 , Jie Qin  1 , Cui-Ping Zhong  1
Affiliations
Review

Chemokines and their receptors play important roles in the development of hepatocellular carcinoma

Chun-Min Liang et al. World J Hepatol. .

Abstract

The chemokine system consists of four different subclasses with over 50 chemokines and 19 receptors. Their functions in the immune system have been well elucidated and research during the last decades unveils their new roles in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The chemokines and their receptors in the microenvironment influence the development of HCC by several aspects including: inflammation, effects on immune cells, angiogenesis, and direct effects on HCC cells. Regarding these aspects, pre-clinical research by targeting the chemokine system has yielded promising data, and these findings bring us new clues in the chemokine-based therapies for HCC.

Keywords: Angiogenesis; Chemokine receptors; Chemokines; Hepatocellular carcinoma; Immune cells; Inflammation; Treatments; Tumor behaviors.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The complicated chemokine network in the microenvironment of hepatocellular carcinoma. The chemokine system exerts pleiotropic effects in the microenvironment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Chemokines derived from either tumor cells or non-tumor cells induce potent inflammation response, along with increased levels of cytokines and infiltration of immune cells; the potent chemotactic effects of chemokines also lead to recruitment of various immune cells into the tumor sites, exerting both anti- and pro-tumor effects. Several other chemokines such as CXCL9 and CXCL12 manifest a key role in angiogenesis of HCC via different mechanisms. As the HCC cells intrinsically express chemokine receptors, they are directly influenced by chemokines too, which affect the behaviors of tumor cells such as the migration, invasion, growth and survival. Both the paracrine and autocrine mechanisms constitute this mutual complex network that is indispensible in HCC. Refer to the text for abbreviations. HSC: Hepatic stellate cell; IL: Interleukin; NK: Natural killer; CAF: Cancer-associated fibroblast; MDSC: Myeloid derived suppressor cells; Tregs: Regulatory T cells; DCs: Dendritic cells; VEGF: Vascular endothelial growth factor.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Zlotnik A, Yoshie O. The chemokine superfamily revisited. Immunity. 2012;36:705–716. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Wasmuth HE, Tacke F, Trautwein C. Chemokines in liver inflammation and fibrosis. Semin Liver Dis. 2010;30:215–225. - PubMed
    1. Bromley SK, Mempel TR, Luster AD. Orchestrating the orchestrators: chemokines in control of T cell traffic. Nat Immunol. 2008;9:970–980. - PubMed
    1. Luther SA, Cyster JG. Chemokines as regulators of T cell differentiation. Nat Immunol. 2001;2:102–107. - PubMed
    1. Molon B, Gri G, Bettella M, Gómez-Moutón C, Lanzavecchia A, Martínez-A C, Mañes S, Viola A. T cell costimulation by chemokine receptors. Nat Immunol. 2005;6:465–471. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources