profiles of mmp-2 expression in jurkat, molt-4 and u937 cells

background: leukemia is a malignant proliferative disorder of the hematopoietic cells. the important role of angiogenesis in leukemia has been reported by several studies. matrix metalloproteinases (mmps) are a large group of endopeptidases which degredate the extracellular matrix and play an important role in angiogenesis. objective: the present study was conducted to evaluate the patterns of mmp-2 activity in three leukemic cell lines. methods: human leukemic monocyte (u937) and t cells (molt-4 and jurkat) were cultured in complete rpmi-1640 medium. the cells were then seeded at a density of 106 cells/ml and were incubated with different concentrations of phorbol myristate acetate (pma) (1-25 ng/ml) or phytoheamagglutinin (pha) (2-10 μg/ml) for 24 hours. the mmp-2 activity in cell-conditioned media was then evaluated by gelatin zymography. statistical comparisons between groups were made by analysis of variance (anova). results: pha/pma significantly and dose-dependently increased mmp-2 activity in u937 cells after 24 hours of incubation compared with untreated control cells. moreover, pha/pma significantly induced mmp-2 activity in molt-4 and jurkat cells after 24 hours of incubation in a dose-dependent manner compared with untreated control cells. conclusion: we conclude that human leukemic jurkat, u937 and molt-4 cells could potentially display mmp-2 activity with different degrees. thus, these cell lines could provide an appropriate system to study the mechanisms regulating mmps production in leukemia patients.