BACKGROUND Several recent studies attempted to classify plaques as those prone to cause clinical manifestations (vulnerable, atheromatous plaques) or those less frequently associated with acute thrombotic complication (stable, fibrous plaques). Defining the cellular and molecular mechanisms that underlie these morphological features remains a challenge. Because interstitial forms of collagen de...

Collagenases are the principal enzymes responsible for the degradation of collagens during embryonic development, wound healing, and cancer metastasis. However, the mechanism by which these enzymes disrupt the highly chemically and structurally stable collagen triple helix remains incompletely understood. We used a single-molecule magnetic tweezers assay to characterize the cleavage of heterotr...

Objective—To demonstrate the expression of laminins (Lns) and their integrin (Int) receptors in diVerent synovial samples and synovial membrane-like interface tissues from well fixed and aseptically loosened total hip replacement (THR), and the potential role of Ln-Int interaction in the production of collagenases and cytokines. Methods—Immunohistochemical staining was done to detect the distri...

Degradation of type I collagen, the most abundant collagen, is initiated by collagenase cleavage at a highly conserved site between Gly775 and I1e776 of the od(I) chain. Mutations at or around this site render type I collagen resistant to collagenase digestion in vitro. We show here that mice carrying a collagenaseresistant mutant Colla-1 transgene die late in embryogenesis, ascribable to overe...

BACKGROUND Progressive kidney fibrosis, associated with chronic kidney disease (CKD), results from an imbalance in extracellular matrix (ECM) homeostasis. Reduced matrix metalloproteinases (MMP) activity causing lower clearance of ECM proteins has been implicated mainly through an overproduction of tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases (TIMP), but also by reduced MMP synthesis. We tested the ...

BACKGROUND It has been reported that collagenases (matrix metalloproteinase 2 [MMP-2] and matrix metalloproteinase 9 [MMP-9]) are associated with hair cycle, whereas the mechanism of the association is largely unknown. METHODS The mice were randomly allocated into four groups: saline, and 5, 10, and 15 nM SB-3CT. Immunohistochemical analysis was employed to examine MMP-2 and MMP-9 protein. Re...