Interestingly, 22 of 23 secondary glioblastomas affected shared a deletion in the same small (957 kb) region of 22q12.3, a region in which the human tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases-3 (TIMP-3) is located.
Further, we also show high serum TIMP1 levels in GBM patients compared with grade II/III patients by ELISA and downregulation of serum GPX3 and TIMP3 proteins in GBMs compared with normal control by Western blot analysis.
Further research into the underlying mechanism demonstrated that the effects of miR-125b on the invasion of glioblastoma CD133-positive cells were associated with the alteration of the expression of MMPs (MMP-2 and MMP-9) and corresponding inhibitors (RECK and TIMP3).