Thrombin receptor-mediated increase of two matrix metalloproteinases, MMP-1 and MMP-3, in human endothelial cells

Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are responsible for the degradation of extracellular matrix components and are secreted by a variety of cells including human endothelial cells. Because alpha-thrombin is known to interact with matrix components and has been shown to activate latent MMP-2 in human umbilical vein endothelial cells, we investigated whether human alpha-thrombin could also regulate other MMPs secreted by the human saphenous vein or mammary artery endothelial cells (EC). After treatment of EC with increasing concentrations of thrombin for different periods of time, a significantly higher gelatinolytic activity of both MMP-1 and MMP-3 was observed in addition to MMP-2 activation. The effect of thrombin was time and dose-dependent, reaching a maximum at 24 hours. After treatment with 5 NIH U/ml thrombin for 24 hours, Western blotting revealed 9.5- and 4.4-fold increases over control values for MMP-3 and MMP-1, respectively. The synthetic thrombin receptor agonist peptide SFLLRNPNDKYEPF fully reproduced the action of thrombin, whereas chemical inactivation of the catalytic site of thrombin abolished its effect on MMP-1 and MMP-3. Thrombin and SFLLRNPNDKYEPF both induced MMP-3 mRNA synthesis but had no significant influence on constitutive MMP-1 mRNA levels. These results demonstrate that thrombin not only activates latent MMP-2 but also modulates MMP-1 and MMP-3 production in EC, this latter effect being mediated by the G-protein-coupled thrombin receptor. Hence, our present data provide evidence to support the suspected role of thrombin in tissue remodeling and angiogenesis.