Temporal expression of extracellular matrix metalloproteinases and tissue plasminogen activator in the development of collateral vessels in the canine model of coronary occlusion.

Although heart attack is caused by occlusion of a major coronary artery, some patients have occlusion without heart attack because these patients have sufficient collateral circulation to provide an alternate pathway for blood supply to the myocardium at ischemic risk. The growth of new capillary vessels (angiogenesis) and enlargement of preexisting vessels play an important role in the collateral development. We evaluated the hypothesis that extracellular matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) expression is altered in coronary collateral arteries (0.5-1 mm o.d.) isolated from canine hearts 2-4 months after surgical placement of an ameroid occluder around the proximal left circumflex artery (n = 4), during the development of collateral vessels and restructuring new vessels. Histologic studies (hematoxylin and eosin, trichrome, and van Gieson stains) indicated cellular proliferation and increased collagen and elastin content in collateral vessels compared with comparable-sized unoccluded arterial segments of the left anterior descending (LAD) artery. In situ MMP activity of collateral vessels, measured using denatured collagen in the gel matrix, indicated an increase in total MMP activity in the intima of collateral vessels compared with normal LAD vessels. To further identify the type of MMP, tissue homogenates were prepared from collateral and LAD vessels and analyzed by SDS-PAGE zymography. The results suggest induction of gelatinase A and gelatinase B expression in collateral vessels compared with normal LAD tissue, when identical amounts of total protein were loaded onto each lane in the gel. Based on plasminogen-casein zymography, we observed the tissue plasminogen activator level to be increased in collateral vessels. On the basis of immunoblot and mRNA (Northern blot) analyses, we determined that the MMP-1 level was induced in collateral vessels 2 and 4 months after ameroid occlusion. In contrast with MMP-1, the level of TIMP-1 (tissue inhibitor of metelloproteinases) was decreased significantly (p < 0.001) in collateral compared with LAD vessels, suggesting a role for arterial TIMP in anti-angiogenic activity. Collectively, these results suggest that chronic occlusion of a major coronary artery induces upregulation of vascular remodeling mechanisms subserving collateral development. Increased MMP-2 activity in collaterals may be associated with decreased levels of tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases and fibrous tissue remodeling following angiogenic and (or) adaptive responses of the myocardium to chronic ischemia.