MMP-11 is a key factor in physiopathological tissue remodeling. As an active form is secreted, its activity must be tightly regulated to avoid detrimental effects. Although TIMP-1 and TIMP-2 reversibly inhibit MMP-11, another more drastic scenario, presumably via hydrolysis, could be hypothesized. In this context, we have investigated the possible implication of MMP-14, since it exhibits a spat...

Angiogenesis is a prominent feature of numerous diseases, including cancer and arthritis, and appears to play an important role in kidney disease and hypertension. The matrix metalloproteinases, especially matrix metalloproteinase-2, play a vital role during angiogenesis by degrading the surrounding extracellular matrix and allowing endothelial cell invasion. Membrane type 1 matrix metalloprote...

background: considering the role of matrix metalloproteinase-3 (mmp-3) and tissue inhibitor of matrix metalloproteinase-1 (timp-1) in the pathogenesis of periodontitis, the present study is to estimate the levels of mmp-3 and timp-1 in gingival crevicular fluid (gcf) in periodontal health, disease and to evaluate the effect of periodontal therapy on mmp-3 and timp-1 concentrations in gcf. mater...

Matrix metalloproteinase-9 has recently emerged as an important molecule in control of extracellular proteolysis in the synaptic plasticity. However, no synaptic targets for its enzymatic activity had been identified before. In this report, we show that beta-dystroglycan comprises such a neuronal activity-driven target for matrix metalloproteinase-9. This notion is based on the following observ...

background: beta-adrenergic blocking agents have been broadly used for treatment of many cardiovascular diseases such as arterial hypertension and ischemic heart failure. anti-tumoral, anti-inflammatory and anti-angiogenesis effects of propranolol (a non-selective beta-adrenergic blocker) have been shown. angiogenesis (replenish of the pre-existing vascular networks) plays a critical role in so...

background: integrins are a family of transmembrane proteins that allow communication between the extracellular matrix and the interior of cells. chondrocytes, cells of articular cartilage, express integrins and these molecules appear to have a variety of roles including mechanotransduction. integrins are known to associate with a number of accessory molecules such as cd147 that may act to regu...

there are emerging data on novel tumor markers such as matrix metalloproteinase-2 (mmp-2 or gelatinase-a), which play a key role in tissue invasion and metastasis. we designed an investigation to assess the usefulness of mmp-2 activity as compared to prostate specific antigen (psa) in cancer staging process. we have analyzed the circulating form of mmp-2 in serum samples of patients suffering f...

BACKGROUND Matrix metalloproteinase-9 could exhibit an important role in the destabilization of atherosclerotic carotid plaques. We hypothesized that in patients with carotid stenosis, elevated levels of plasma matrix metalloproteinase-9 are associated with ipsilateral stroke or cardiovascular death. METHODS AND RESULTS We followed up 207 patients with > or = 50% carotid stenosis initially fo...

Chronic increases in arterial blood flow elicit an adaptive response of the arterial wall, leading to vessel enlargement and reduction in wall shear stress to physiological baseline value. Release of nitric oxide from endothelial cells exposed to excessive shear is a fundamental step in the remodeling process, and potentially triggers a cascade of events, including growth factor induction and m...