Homozygous mice with a null mutation in the MMP-9/gelatinase B gene exhibit an abnormal pattern of skeletal growth plate vascularization and ossification. Although hypertrophic chondrocytes develop normally, apoptosis, vascularization, and ossification are delayed, resulting in progressive lengthening of the growth plate to about eight times normal. After 3 weeks postnatal, aberrant apoptosis, ...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Acinetobacter baumannii is an important nosocomial pathogen, but its pathogenic characteristics are not well defined. The purpose of this study was to evaluate biofilm production, mannose-resistant hemagglutination, and gelatinase production in A. baumannii strains isolated from various clinical specimens. METHODS Eighty six strains of A. baumannii isolated from 86 hosp...

PURPOSE To correlate tear fluorescein clearance with interleukin-1alpha (IL-1alpha) concentration and gelatinase B (matrix metalloproteinase [MMP]-9) activity in the tear fluid of patients with ocular rosacea and normal control subjects. METHODS Gelatinase activity was evaluated by gelatin zymography in tear fluid obtained from 13 patients with ocular rosacea (including 1 patient with recurre...

OBJECTIVES Sepsis is a life-threatening condition that arises when the response of the body to infection injures its own tissues and organs. The early prediction of sepsis by current clinical and laboratory methods remains inadequate. Serum neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin level is increased in sepsis irrespective of renal dysfunction. Therefore, we aimed to correlate the serum neutro...

Release of 92-kd type IV collagenase/gelatinase, also known as gelatinase B, by inflammatory and tumor cells is increasingly recognized and is believed to facilitate cellular migration across basement membranes. It has been implicated in the pathogenesis of many diseases, but little is known of its cellular origin(s) and function in liver. In this study we have demonstrated synthesis and releas...

To study the effect of mononuclear cell differentiation on metalloproteinase production, the human monocytic cell lines U937 and THP-1 were exposed to two well known differentiating agents, the phorbol esters (phorbol myristate acetate (PMA)) and 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 (1,25-(OH)2D3). With U937 cells, PMA-induced differentiation increased the production of both interstitial collagenase and 92...

The potential virulence factors of enterococci include production of enterococcal surface protein (Esp), gelatinase, and hemolysin. Gelatinase- and hemolysin-producing strains of Enterococcus faecalis have been shown to be virulent in animal models of enterococcal infections. Esp production has been shown to enhance the persistence of E. faecalis in the urinary bladder. We determined the presen...

Gelatinase activity was detectable in the culture filtrates of 13 of 14 species of marine fungi tested. The fungi were grown under conditions of submerged culture in a medium consisting of corn meal, soybean meal, and CaCO(3). The degree of enzymatic activity did not necessarily correlate with the amino nitrogen content of the filtrates. Eight of the filtrates contained measurable quantities of...

BACKGROUND Extracellular matrix (ECM) remodeling facilitates biomechanical signals in response to abnormal physiological conditions. This process is witnessed as one of the major effects of the stress imposed by catecholamines, such as epinephrine and norepinephrine (NE), on cardiac muscle cells. Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are the key proteases involved in degradation of the ECM in heart....