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. 1979 May;76(5):2268–2272. doi: 10.1073/pnas.76.5.2268

Preferential digestion of basement membrane collagen by an enzyme derived from a metastatic murine tumor.

L A Liotta, S Abe, P G Robey, G R Martin
PMCID: PMC383580  PMID: 221920

Abstract

The specificity of human skin collagenase and of an enzyme from an invasive tumor were studied by using types I, II, III, IV, and V (AB) collagen as substrates. Human skin collagenase degraded types I, II, and III collagen, producing the characteristic 3/4 and 1/4 cleavage products, but failed to degrade type IV or V collagen. Collagenase prepared from the invasive tumors showed maximal activity after trypsin treatment. The tumor enzyme degraded type IV (basement membrane) collagen, producing fragments consistent with a single cleavage site but did not attack types I, II, III, and V collagen. Because type IV collagen prepared by pepsinization of placenta was also digested, it is likely that cleavage of type IV collagen by the tumor collagenase occurs within a largely helical domain. A type IV collagenase could play a significant role in tumor metastases and in normal tissues where basement membrane turnover takes place.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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