title: Gelatinase activity of matrix metalloproteinases in the cerebrospinal fluid of various patient populations.
abstract: We have studied the enzymatic gelatinolytic activity of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) present in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of samples obtained from 67 individuals, twenty-one nonneurological patients (considered controls) and 46 subjects with various neurological disorders e.g., vascular lesions, demyelination, inflammatory, degenerative and prion diseases. Biochemical characterization of MMPs, a family of neutral proteolytic enzymes involved in extracellular matrix modeling, included determination of substrate specificity and Ca+2 dependency, as well as the effects of protease inactivators, carboxylic and His (histidine) residue modifiers, and antibiotics. Whereas all CSF samples expressed MMP-2 (gelatinase A) activity, it corresponded in most cases (normal and pathological samples) to its latent form (proenzyme; pMMP-2). In general, inflammatory neurological diseases (especially meningitis and neurocisticercosis) were associated with the presence of a second enzyme, MMP-9 (or gelatinase B). Whereas MMP-9 was found in the CSF of every tropical spastic paraparesis patient studied, its presence in samples from individuals with vascular lesions was uncommon. Patients blood-brain barrier damage was ascertained by determining total CSF protein content using both, the conventional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis procedure under denaturing conditions and capillary zone electrophoresis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Chile, Santiago. mavalenz@abello.dic.uchile.cl
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Valenzuela
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cartier
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Collados
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Kettlun
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Araya
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Concha
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Flores
authors.forename: M E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Wolf
authors.forename: A D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Mosnaim
mesh_terms: D004789:Enzyme Activation; D018093:Gelatinases / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid*; D006801:Humans; D020782:Matrix Metalloproteinases / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid*; D009422:Nervous System Diseases / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid / Q000201:enzymology*; D010662:Phenylmercuric Acetate / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000737:chemistry; D013379:Substrate Specificity
chemical_list: C010024:4-aminophenylmercuriacetate; D018093:Gelatinases; D020782:Matrix Metalloproteinases; D010662:Phenylmercuric Acetate