摘要
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class="h4">Background
Stromelysin (MMP-3) is an important regulator of vascular smooth muscle cell (SMC) invasion, a key contributor to saphenous vein (SV) bypass graft failure. The 5A allele of the common -1612 MMP-3 5A/6A promoter polymorphism reportedly confers increased promoter activity, MMP-3 tissue expression, and susceptibility to a number of vascular pathologies. The aim of this study was to determine whether the MMP-3 5A/6A polymorphism directly influences endogenous MMP-3 expression levels and, consequently, cell invasion, in SV-derived SMC cultured from patients with different genotypes.class="h4">Material and Methods
<p>Genotyping of 226 patients revealed -1612 MMP-3 5A/6A genotype frequencies of 20.8%5A/5A, 52.7%5A/6A, and 26.5%6A/6A. Using a standardized, controlled protocol, we investigated cytokine- and growth factor-induced MMP-3 expression (real-time polymerase chain reaction [RT-PCR], ELISA) and SV-SMC invasion (Boyden chamber with Matrigel barrier) using cultured SV-SMC from patients with different MMP-3 genotypes.class="h4">Results
<p>Despite observing a strong correlation between MMP-3 mRNA levels and MMP-3 protein secretion, no significant differences were apparent in MMP-3 expression levels or cell invasion between cells with different MMP-3 5A/6A genotypes.class="h4">Conclusions
<p>Our data suggest that the MMP-3 5A/6A promoter polymorphism in isolation does not influence levels of MMP-3 secretion or cellular invasion in human SV-SMC.