Fig. 8.

dR cells exhibit augmented invasive capabilities and produce active MMP-2. A: dR cells demonstrate a vigorous outgrowth/sprouting in Matrigel (72-h time point is shown), whereas dS-SMC remain as compact cell clusters. B: addition of the general MMP inhibitor GM6001 (20 μM) significantly inhibited dR cell outgrowth in Matrigel. C: gelatin zymography shows that, under both normoxic (N) and hypoxic (H) conditions, dR cells produce a pattern of gelatinolytic activity that is apparently distinct (note the bottom band, marked by an arrow) from that of dS-SMC and even that of adventitial fibroblasts. D: Western blot analysis, using the MMP-2-specific antibodies, demonstrates the 68-kDa bands in the dR cell protein extracts that correlate with the active (68-kDa) form of MMP-2 (72-kDa bands correlate with the latent MMP-2).