Figure 7.
Plasminogen-mediated activation of MMP9. Mouse blastocysts were cultured from GD 7 to GD 9 in medium containing 0, 5, 10, or 20 μg/ml plasminogen, and the conditioned medium was processed by gelatin zymography. (A) Zymograms of human pro-MMP9 (hMMP) and blastocyst-conditioned medium. Conditioned medium (no plasminogen) was treated with APMA to activate MMP9 (APMA). The presence of plasminogen during embryo culture activated MMP9 with a dose dependency. (B) Plasmin activity was measured in medium containing plasminogen (Plg, as indicated) after 2 days of culture either without (M) or with (CM) blastocysts.