Therapeutic potential of elafin in airway inflammatory disease

Elafin, which is derived from trappin-2 or pre-elafin by proteolysis, is an endogenous serine protease inhibitor with a low molecular weight. Its inhibitory activity is dependent on anchoring to the extracellular matrix by forming covalent bonds with its distinctive N-terminal domain via tissue transglutaminases. In addition to inhibiting proteases, it also exhibits anti-inflammatory, antibiotic, antifungal, antiviral and immunomodulatory functions. Elafin plays an important role in inflammatory disease and is a promising candidate for the anti-inflammatory treatment of respiratory diseases. This review will discuss the therapeutic potential of elafin in airway inflammation and provide evidence and suggestions for the future treatment of airway inflammatory diseases. In addition, the therapeutic potential of elafin in lung cancer is also discussed.