A Spectroscopic Study of the Aggregation State of the Human Antimicrobial Peptide LL-37 in Bacterial versus Host Cell Model Membranes.

The LL-37 antimicrobial peptide is the only cathelicidin peptide found in humans that has antimicrobial and immunomodulatory properties. Because it exerts also chemotactic and angiogenetic activity, LL-37 is involved in promoting wound healing, reducing inflammation, and strengthening the host immune response. The key to the effectiveness of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) lies in the different compositions of bacterial versus host cell membranes.