Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:3.4.22.61 (caspase-8)
 6,833 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP-9) is a Zn(2+)-dependent endopeptidase that degrades some of the components of basement membranes and extracellular matrix and thus participates in leukocyte infiltration during inflammation. In a model of zymosan peritonitis, neutrophil infiltration in MMP-deficient (MMP-9(-/-)) mice was significantly weaker at the time of their maximal influx in wild-type mice (6h). However, during the late stages of peritonitis (24h) an extended accumulation of neutrophils was observed in MMP-9(-/-)versus the wild-type mice. Recently, we reported that the ratio of apoptosis of inflammatory leukocytes is impaired in MMP-9(-/-) mice during late peritonitis and the process depends on COX-1-driven PGE(2). Here we scrutinized the alterations in apoptotic mechanisms by comparisons between MMP-9(-/-) and the wild-type mice. Altered apoptosis occurred only during late (24h) peritonitis and concerned only neutrophils, and not macrophages, mast cells or lymphocytes. Furthermore, expression and activity of caspases was altered in MMP-9(-/-) animals, delayed for caspase-8 and -9, and decreased in the case of caspase-3. Also the expression of Bax/Bcl-2 proteins was changed in MMP-9(-/-) mice. These changes, and in particular the impaired neutrophil apoptosis and weaker caspase-3 activity, were restored by the selective COX-1 inhibition. We conclude that in mice lacking MMP-9 the enhanced COX-1-PGE(2) decreases caspase-3 expression and activity leading to impaired apoptosis of inflammatory neutrophils resulting in abnormal accumulation of the cells at the inflammatory focus. The data also reinforce the notion that MMP-9 is a key enzyme in neutrophil biology.
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PMID:Altered apoptosis of inflammatory neutrophils in MMP-9-deficient mice is due to lower expression and activity of caspase-3. 1968 97

Matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP-9) is upregulated in various types of malignancy, including human ovarian carcinomas. It promotes invasion, metastasis, growth and the survival of malignant cells. However, relatively little is known about the role of MMP9 in epithelial ovarian carcinoma. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to determine the effects of targeting this molecule on ovarian carcinoma progression. A plasmid, psi-MMP-9, carrying a short hairpin RNA against MMP-9 gene expression was constructed and transfected into the human ovarian cancer cell line SKOV3 using a human U6 promoter-driven DNA template approach to determine the effect of MMP-9 gene RNA interference (RNAi) on the proliferation, apoptosis, migration, invasion and tumorigenicity of the human ovarian carcinoma cells. The results demonstrated that siRNA-mediated knockdown of MMP-9 in the human ovarian cancer cell line SKOV3 inhibited cell proliferation, migration and invasion in vitro. The results also demonstrated that downregulation of MMP-9 led to cell apoptosis in SKOV3 cells, inhibited the expression of anti-apoptotic molecules, including B cell lymphoma-2, survivin and X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis protein, and enhanced the activity of capsase-3 and caspase-8. In addition, knockdown of MMP-9 inhibited tumorigenicity in nude mice. Taken together, MMP-9 gene RNAi in ovarian carcinoma cells inhibited proliferation, migration and invasion, induced cell apoptosis in vitro and suppressed tumor growth in nude mice. These results suggest that MMP-9 is an ovarian cancer-associated gene and is a potential target for therapeutic anti-cancer drugs.
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PMID:Downregulation of matrix metalloproteinase 9 by small interfering RNA inhibits the tumor growth of ovarian epithelial carcinoma in vitro and in vivo. 2573 7