Stromelysin-3 has been recently described in association with the stro
ma of different types of cancer including colorectal carcinomas. This
article reports the detection of transcripts for stromelysin-3 (matrix
metalloproteinase-11 [MMP-111]) in extracts of tissue from colorectal
carcinomas using the technique of reverse transcription-polymerase ch
ain reaction (RT-PCR). In 12 cases of primary colon carcinoma, stromel
ysin-3 messenger RNA (mRNA) was detected after 25 cycles, whereas this
procedure did not reveal stromelysin-3 mRNA expression in one rectal
carcinoma micrometastasis to the liver or in normal colon tissue (cont
rols) after 30 cycles of PCR. However, stromelysin-3 mRNA was detected
in normal colon specimens after 45 cycles. The high sensitivity of th
is technique allows application for the investigation of the expressio
n of stromelysin-3 in small amounts of tissue. Copyright (C) 1996 by W
.B. Saunders Company