Abstract:

Objective To detect matrix metallopeptidase-9 （MMP-9） and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-1 （TIMP-1） expression in human colon cancer， and their effect on the progression of human colon cancer. Methods Colon cancer tissues and paired distant normal colon tissues obtained from 200 inpatients were allocated into two groups. The expressions of MMP-9 and TIMP-1 were detected by RT-PCR and immunohistochemical staining and computerized image analysis. The relationship between the two expressions with clinicopathologic characteristics of human colon cancer was investigated by statistical analysis. ResultsThe upregulation of MMP9 mRNA in tumor and normal tissues were 141（70.5％） and 21（10.5％） respectively (P=0.001）， and the mRNA expression level was correlated with Dukes' staging， lymph node status and histological differentiation grade. The upregulation of TIMP-1 mRNA tumor and normal tissues were 104（52.0％） and 121（60.5％） respectively （P=0.087）， and had no correlation to clinical characteristics. The MMP-9 protein positive degree of immunohistochemical staining in tumor tissue was 1.79±0.11， higher than 1.22±0.05 in control group（P=0.002）， and the protein expression was correlated with Dukes' staging and lymph node status. The expression of TIMP-1 protein was lower than expression of MMP-9 protein in two groups， and had no correlation with clinical characteristics. Pearson test suggested that protein expressive level of MMP-9 was negatively correlated with TIMP-1 in tumor group （r=-0.63，P＜0.01）. Conclusion MMP-9 plays an important role in the progression of human colon cancer， and TIMP-1 may have antagonistic effects during the progression of human colon cancer.