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
. 2025 Jul;99(7):2699-2712.
doi: 10.1007/s00204-025-04036-w. Epub 2025 Apr 1.

A silence catalyst: CCL5-mediated intercellular communication in cancer

Wei-Ting Hu #  1 , Ming Li #  2 , Pei-Jun Ma  1 , Ding Yang  1 , Xiao-Dong Liu  3 , Yun Wang  4
Affiliations
Review

A silence catalyst: CCL5-mediated intercellular communication in cancer

Wei-Ting Hu et al. Arch Toxicol. 2025 Jul.

Abstract

Chemokine CCL5 (RANTES), as a key mediator of intercellular communication in cancers, and its role in cancer development, metastasis and immune escape has received increasing attention. CCL5 and its receptors are important components of the tumor microenvironment and play a tumor promoting role in different ways by triggering signaling pathways through binding to the primary receptor CCR5. CCL5 was viewed as indispensable "gate keepers" of immunity and inflammation, it remains unclear of CCL5-mediated intercellular communication. Therefore, in this review, we summarize the latest information on the origin, structure, and characterization of CCL5 and role of CCL5 in the tumor microenvironment. It includes CCL5-mediated intercellular communication through exosomes, microvesicles and others in breast, lung, and ovarian cancers. CCL5 has a multifaceted role in cancer and has potential applications as a biomarker for cancer diagnosis and prognosis, which provides theoretical bases and therapeutic targets for the development of new cancer therapeutic strategies.

Keywords: CCL5; Cancer; Intercellular communication; Receptor; Tumor microenvironment.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Conflict of interest: The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest.

References

    1. Allen SJ, Crown SE, Handel TM (2007) Chemokine: receptor structure, interactions, and antagonism. Annu Rev Immunol 25:787–820. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.immunol.24.021605.090529 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Baj-Krzyworzeka M, Weglarczyk K, Mytar B, Szatanek R, Baran J, Zembala M (2011) Tumour-derived microvesicles contain interleukin-8 and modulate production of chemokines by human monocytes. Anticancer Res 31(4):1329–1335 - PubMed
    1. Baj-Krzyworzeka M, Weglarczyk K, Szatanek R, Mytar B, Baran J, Siedlar M (2019) The role of CD44H molecule in the interactions between human monocytes and pancreatic adenocarcinoma-derived microvesicles. Folia Histochem Cytobiol 57(1):28–34. https://doi.org/10.5603/FHC.a2019.0005 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Ban Y, Mai J, Li X et al (2017) Targeting autocrine CCL5–CCR5 axis reprograms immunosuppressive myeloid cells and reinvigorates antitumor immunity. Cancer Res 77(11):2857–2868. https://doi.org/10.1158/0008-5472.Can-16-2913 - DOI - PubMed - PMC
    1. Barczak K, Droździk A, Bosiacki M et al (2023) CCL5’s role in periodontal disease: a narrative review. Int J Mol Sci. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms242417332 - DOI - PubMed - PMC

LinkOut - more resources