Pulsed Electromagnetic Field Effects on MMP-9 and TIMP-1 Levels in Chondrosarcoma Cells

Chondrosarcoma is one of the tumours of bone and soft tissue known as sarcomas and it is composed of cells derived from transformed cells that produce cartilage. It has a poor response to current therapeutic approaches such as chemotherapeutic drugs and radiotherapy (Tang and Tsai 2012). Therefore in the field of oncology new innocuous approaches are needed such as pulsed electromagnetic field (PEMF) exposure which may decrease the chondrosarcoma cells’ evolution and metastasize ability. Cancer cell invasion and metastasis processes involve degradation of extracellular matrix (ECM) and the breakdown of ECM by proteinases (Roomi et al., 2013a; Shang et al., 2014). One family of proteases which take a role in tumour invasion and metastasis is matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) (Wang et al., 2014). Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are a multigenomic endopeptidase family composed of collagenases (MMP-1, -8, -13), gelatinases (MMP-2, -9), stromelysins (MMP-3, -7, -10, -11) and membrane type MMP (MMP-1, -2, -3, -4) (Daniel et al., 2001). Proteolytic activities of MMPs are inhibited by tissue inhibitors of matrix metalloproteinases (TIMPs). It is known that the balance between MMP and TIMP levels is a critical determinant of proteolytic