Ram Maya, Sherer Yaniv, Shoenfeld Yehuda
Department of Medicine B & Center for Autoimmune Diseases, Sheba Medical Center Tel-Hashomer, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Jerusalem, Israel.
J Clin Immunol. 2006 Jul;26(4):299-307. doi: 10.1007/s10875-006-9022-6. Epub 2006 May 2.
Matrix metalloproteinases (also named matrixin or MMPs) are a major group of enzymes that regulate cell-matrix composition by using zinc for their proteolytic activities. They are essential for various normal biological processes such as embryonic development, morphogenesis, reproduction tissue resorption, and remodeling. Metalloproteinases also play a role in pathological processes including inflammation, arthritis, cardiovascular diseases, pulmonary diseases and cancer. Herein we review the involvement of MMP-9 in a variety of autoimmune diseases including systemic lupus erythematosus, Sjogren's syndrome, systemic sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, polymyositis and atherosclerosis. MMP-9 plays either a primary or secondary role in each one of those autoimmune diseases by its up or down-regulation. It is not expressed constantly but rather is induced or suppressed by many regulating molecules. This feature of MMP-9 along with its involvement in disease pathogenesis turns it into a target for therapy of autoimmune diseases.
基质金属蛋白酶（也称为基质酶或MMPs）是一类主要的酶，通过利用锌进行蛋白水解活性来调节细胞-基质组成。它们对于各种正常生物学过程至关重要，如胚胎发育、形态发生、生殖组织吸收和重塑。金属蛋白酶在包括炎症、关节炎、心血管疾病、肺部疾病和癌症在内的病理过程中也发挥作用。在此，我们综述了MMP-9在多种自身免疫性疾病中的作用，包括系统性红斑狼疮、干燥综合征、系统性硬化症、类风湿关节炎、多发性硬化症、多发性肌炎和动脉粥样硬化。MMP-9通过上调或下调在这些自身免疫性疾病中的每一种中发挥主要或次要作用。它并非持续表达，而是由许多调节分子诱导或抑制。MMP-9的这一特性及其在疾病发病机制中的作用使其成为自身免疫性疾病治疗的靶点。
