Platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) is a mitogen associated with tissue repair, a process involving collagen synthesis and remodelling by interstitial collagenase. This study examines and compares the regulation of interstitial collagenase and collagen gene expression by PDGF-AA and -BB in human fibroblasts. Time-course analysis showed that neither PDGF-AA or -BB had a consistent effect on th...

Tumor cell motility and the passage of tumor cells through various tissue matrices, including basement membrane, are important components of the metastatic process. Proteolytic enzymes, including a type IV collagen-specific collagenase, have been demonstrated to play a significant role in extracellular matrix and basement membrane degradation. In addition, exogenous collagenase has been shown t...

Cancer therapy based on tumor-selective macromolecules may fail due to the elevated interstitial fluid pressure (IFP) that reduces the transvascular and interstitial convection in solid tumors. Modulation of the tumor extracellular matrix (ECM) may reduce IFP and enhance transvascular filtration and interstitial transport of macromolecules. We therefore measured the effect of the ECM-degrading ...

Two metalloproteinases, collagenase and stromelysin, are produced in large quantities by synovial fibroblasts in individuals with rheumatoid arthritis. These enzymes play a major role in the extensive destruction of connective tissue seen in this disease. In this study, we show that heat shock of monolayer cultures of rabbit synovial fibroblasts increases expression of mRNA for heat shock prote...

Liver fibrosis results from a relative imbalance between synthesis and degradation of matrix proteins. We have previously described release of the protein collagenase inhibitor, tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-1 (TIMP-1), by culture-activated human hepatic stellate cells (HSCs). In this study, we have investigated the relative expression of TIMP-1 and interstitial collagenase in culture-a...

Clostridium perfringens type C NCIB 10662 produced various gelatinolytic enzymes with molecular masses ranging from approximately 120 to approximately 80 kDa. A 120-kDa gelatinolytic enzyme was present in the largest quantity in the culture supernatant, and this enzyme was purified to homogeneity on the basis of sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The purified enzyme was ...

We have recently presented biochemical evidence for collagen and gelatin degrading activities associated with plasma membranes of various human cancer cell lines. In this report we describe the localization of interstitial collagenase at the basal plasma membrane of the human pancreatic cancer cell line RWP-I, using immunofluorescence and ultrastructural immunogold labeling techniques. Collagen...

Remodeling of fibrillar collagen in mouse tissues has been widely attributed to the activity of collagenase-3 (matrix metalloproteinase-13 (MMP-13)), the main collagenase identified in this species. This proposal has been largely based on the repeatedly unproductive attempts to detect the presence in murine tissues of interstitial collagenase (MMP-1), a major collagenase in many species, includ...