Van Lint Philippe, Libert Claude
Department of Molecular Biomedical Research, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
J Leukoc Biol. 2007 Dec;82(6):1375-81. doi: 10.1189/jlb.0607338. Epub 2007 Aug 20.
The action of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) was originally believed to be restricted to degradation of the extracellular matrix; however, in recent years, it has become evident that these proteases can modify many nonmatrix substrates, such as cytokines and chemokines. The use of MMP-deficient animals has revealed that these proteases can indeed influence the progression of various inflammatory processes. This review aims to provide the reader with a concise overview of these novel MMP functions in relation to leukocyte migration.
基质金属蛋白酶（MMPs）的作用最初被认为仅限于细胞外基质的降解；然而，近年来，显而易见的是，这些蛋白酶能够修饰许多非基质底物，如细胞因子和趋化因子。对缺乏MMPs的动物的研究表明，这些蛋白酶确实能够影响各种炎症过程的进展。这篇综述旨在为读者简要概述这些与白细胞迁移相关的MMPs的新功能。
