An Update on the Role of Matrix Metalloproteinases in the Pathogenesis of Multiple Sclerosis

摘要

Background: Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are zinc-containing endopeptidases, proteins essential to the degradation of various tissue extracellular matrix proteins. Under normal conditions, MMPs participate in several physiological processes, both in the developing organism and the adult. Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an inflammatory demyelinating disease of the central nervous system (CNS), affecting primarily young adults. Inflammatory infiltrations of the CNS parenchyma by autoreactive immune cells, that mediate myelin degradation in the form of the demyelination "plaque", are the pathological hallmark of the disease. Due to their capacity to orchestrate tissue penetration from various cells, MMPs have been elucidated in MS as mediators of blood-brain barrier disruption and CNS inflammation, thus contributing to the disease pathogenesis.