Abstract
During pathologic vessel remodeling, vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) embedded within the collagen-rich matrix of the artery wall mobilize uncharacterized proteolytic systems to infiltrate the subendothelial space and generate neointimal lesions. Although the VSMC-derived serine proteinases, plasminogen activator and plasminogen, the cysteine proteinases, cathepsins L, S, and K, and the matrix metalloproteinases MMP-2 and MMP-9 have each been linked to pathologic matrix-remodeling states in vitro and in vivo, the role that these or other proteinases play in allowing VSMCs to negotiate the three-dimensional (3-D) cross-linked extracellular matrix of the arterial wall remains undefined. Herein, we demonstrate that VSMCs proteolytically remodel and invade collagenous barriers independently of plasmin, cathepsins L, S, or K, MMP-2, or MMP-9. Instead, we identify the membrane-anchored matrix metalloproteinase, MT1-MMP, as the key pericellular collagenolysin that controls the ability of VSMCs to degrade and infiltrate 3-D barriers of interstitial collagen, including the arterial wall. Furthermore, genetic deletion of the proteinase affords mice with a protected status against neointimal hyperplasia and lumen narrowing in vivo. These studies suggest that therapeutic interventions designed to target MT1-MMP could prove beneficial in a range of human vascular disease states associated with the destructive remodeling of the vessel wall extracellular matrix.
Original language | English |
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Journal | The Journal of Experimental Medicine |
Volume | 202 |
Issue number | 5 |
Pages (from-to) | 663-71 |
Number of pages | 9 |
ISSN | 0022-1007 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 5 Sept 2005 |
Keywords
- Animals
- Apoptosis/physiology
- Arteries/metabolism
- Cell Movement/physiology
- Cloning, Molecular
- Collagen/metabolism
- Extracellular Matrix/metabolism
- Fluorescent Antibody Technique
- Gene Transfer Techniques
- In Situ Nick-End Labeling
- Male
- Matrix Metalloproteinase 14
- Matrix Metalloproteinases/genetics
- Matrix Metalloproteinases, Membrane-Associated
- Mice
- Mice, Mutant Strains
- Microscopy, Electron
- Myocytes, Smooth Muscle/metabolism
- Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
- Vascular Diseases/metabolism