MT1-MMP and its family may play a central role in the cell surface localization and activation of progelatinase A and via this mechanism, tumor cells use exogenous progelatinase A to mediate the proteolysis associated with invasion and metastasis.
MT1-MMP (membrane type 1-matrix metalloproteinase) is implicated in tumor-epithelial cell surface activation of latent pro-MMP-2, indicating a mechanism for tumor-stromal interaction in invasion.
The current study was designed to determine the expression pattern of membrane-type matrix metalloproteinase-1 (MT1-MMP) in hepatocellular carcinomas and its participation in invasion potential.
Taken together, most enzymes of the MT-MMP/MMP class of proteases facilitating invasion of thyroid tumor cells seem to have been produced by fibroblasts, not by the tumor cells themselves.
These results suggest that both MT1-MMP and MT2-MMP play a key role in the activation of pro-MMP-2 in the human malignant astrocytic tumors and that the gelatinolytic activity is involved in the astrocytic tumor invasion.
These three MT-MMPs may play an important role in the pathogenesis of human renal cell carcinoma, and MT1-MMP in particular is important in invasion by carcinoma cells.
Collectively, our findings suggest that the high level of MT1-MMP expression is closely related to the invasion and metastasis of laryngeal carcinoma, and indicates poorer prognosis.
These results suggest that heat shock preferentially suppresses the production of MT1-MMP and thereby inhibits proMMP-2 activation, events which subsequently inhibit tumor invasion.
However, the localization of MT1-MMP to the leading edge of migrating cells and cell invasion through Matrigel were strongly enhanced only in cells expressing either wild type or truncated MT1-MMP lacking 6 C-terminal amino acid residues (Delta577).
These suggest that overexpressions of MMP-2 and MT1-MMP, loss of TIMP-2 expression, and up-regulation of beta-catenin by AAC-11 transfection may contribute to the development of cervical cancer invasion.
Matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) and membrane type 1-MMP (MT1-MMP) play an important role in the invasion and metastasis of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), but the mechanism of their regulation is not clearly understood.
To evaluate possible roles of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-1, -2, tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase (TIMP)-1, -2 and membrane-type-1 matrix metalloproteinase (MT1-MMP) in invasion of human gliomas, expressions of these proteins were investigated in ten cases of human glioma and two meningioma tissues and eight human glioma cell lines.
In the present study, the authors examined the role of MMP-2 (gelatinase A) and membrane type 1 MMP (MT1-MMP), an activator of the zymogen of MMP-2, proMMP-2, together with tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases (TIMP-1 and TIMP-2) in the invasion of astrocytic tumors in humans.
These results suggest that collagen-dependent MMP-2 activation and MT1-MMP expression/processing contribute to Rac-promoted tumor cell invasion through interstitial collagen barrier.
Matrix metalloproteinase-9 and MT1-MMP staining scores in tumor cells were significantly associated with the presence of myometrial invasion and vascular/lymphatic invasion, while MMP-2 did not correlate with these factors.
These results demonstrate the ability of HBx to promote tumor cell invasion by a mechanism involving the upregulation of MT1-MMP and COX-2 and provide new insights into the mechanism of action of this viral protein and its involvement in tumor metastasis and recurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma.
Understanding of the proteolysis by, and the regulation of MT1-MMP, which probably promotes cell invasion, could provide a therapeutic hint as to how to block or delay the progression of cancer.