V. Djonov et al., MMP-19: cellular localization of a novel metalloproteinase within normal breast tissue and mammary gland tumours, J PATHOLOGY, 195(2), 2001, pp. 147-155
Citations number
28
Categorie Soggetti
Research/Laboratory Medicine & Medical Tecnology","Medical Research Diagnosis & Treatment
Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are instrumental in promoting and facilita
ting the spread of malignant diseases and in the de novo formation of blood
vessels. This study has mapped the immunoreactivity of a novel, angiogenes
is-related metalloproteinase - MMP-19 - in normal breast tissue and in beni
gn and malignant breast lesions and compared this pattern of expression wit
h that of MMP-2. In the normal resting mammary gland, MMP-19 was strongly e
xpressed in the myoepithelial layer of the ductal system; the alveolar and
ductal epithelia displayed considerable, but lobule-specific, variations in
labelling intensity. MMP-19 was also present within the smooth muscle and
endothelial layers of large and medium-sized blood vessels, as well as with
in capillary walls. In benign lesions, all tumour cells and their surroundi
ng vasculature were uniformly and strongly immunoreactive for MMP-19. Progr
ession towards an invasive phenotype and neoplastic dedifferentiation led t
o the disappearance of MMP-19 from tumour cells and blood vessels and a con
comitant rise in the levels of MMP-2. In vitro experiments conducted with i
solated smooth muscle cells cultivated on a solid substratum, or within the
interstices of a collagen matrix, indicated that the expression of MMP-19
is influenced by the architecture of the surrounding extracellular matrix.
Copyright (C) 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.