TAKASHI KOBAYASHI, SHUNJI HATTORI, HIROSHI SHINKAI
DOI: 10.1080/00015550310007436

To investigate the pathophysiological role of fibroblasts in tissue metabolism, we analysed gelatin-degrading enzymes secreted from skin
cells in culture. Using a gelatin-zymography method, matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2 was constitutively secreted from fibroblasts,
whereas both MMP-2 and MMP-9 were secreted from keratinocytes. MMP-9
expression by fibroblasts was induced by the addition of transforming
growth factor (TGF)-β1 or tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-α to the
cultures. Moreover, TGF-β1, TNF-α, or epidermal growth factor augmented
the secretion of MMP-2 from fibroblasts. These results indicate that
MMP-9 together with MMP-2 secreted from fibroblasts could play
important roles in tissue metabolism, including cytokine-induced
inflammation.