MMP1 and MMP3 Polymorphisms in Promoter Regions and Cancer

Tumors spread by way of a multistep process in which degradation of the extracellular matrix and basement membrane barriers is a key feature. The matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) comprise a family of at least 16 proteolytic enzymes that degrade the extracellular matrix in a substrate-specific manner and are thought to have important roles in tumor invasion and metastasis (1). Overexpression of MMPs is associated with tumor invasion and metastasis (2). Rutter et al. (3) recently investigated how insertion of a G nucleotide at −1607 bp in the MMP1 promoter sequence affects regulation of the transcription of the gene. Promoters containing this 2G sequence display substantially higher transcriptional activity than 1G promoters. In …