Remodeling MMPIs -- Matrix metalloproteinase inhibitors will be approved as drugs, probably this year, but questions remain concerning their specificity, bioavailability, and potential long-term toxicity

摘要

Matrix metaiioproteinases (MMPs) are ubiquitous in human disease and development. That much is increasingly ciear In 1994, researchers at Glaxo (Research Triangle Park, NC) and British Bio-Technology (Oxford, U.K.) independently showed that metalioproteinases were involved in the conversion of inactive tumor .necrosis factor (TNF) precursor into active TNF. Since TNF is implicated in rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn'sdisease, multiple sclerosis, and cachexia (and sepsis, too, if anyone has the energy or inclination), this discovery added many new diseases to the !ist of those that might be treatable using MMP inhibitors (MMPIs) Many industry analysts feel that the questions surrounding MMPIs as potential drugs (in cancer, at least) are no longer "if" and "whether" but "when" and "which compounds."