Extracellular matrix identification

Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are a class of zinc- and calcium-dependent enzymes that are responsible for the metabolism of extracellular matrix proteins [27]. Increased activity of MMPs has been associated with pathological diseases such as arthritis, cancer, multiple sclerosis and Alzheimer s disease [28-31]. Therefore, they constitute an important group of drug targets. Their inhibition is accomplished by blocking the active site of the catalytic domain with ligands that contain hydroxamic or carboxylic acids to chelate the Zn metal. The identification of low molecular weight compounds that contain different scaffolds may lead to the development of a new class of specific inhibitors. 

Guenther, H. L., Croissant, R. C., Schonfeld, S., Slavkin, H. C. Enamel proteins Identification of epithelial-specific differentiation products. In Extracellular matrix influences on gene expression, pp. 387. Slavkin, H. C., Greulich, R. C. (eds.). New York Academic Press 1975... 

Keene, D. R., Maddox, B. K, Kuo, H-J., Sakai, L. Y., and Glanville, R. W. (1991). Extraction of extensible beaded structure and their identification as extracellular matrix fibrillin-containing microfibrils./. Histochem. Cytochem. 39, 441-449. 

Fourth, the demonstration that many of these enzymes have prognostic value in cancer may qualify them as novel therapeutic targets. For example, similar to many other proteases, these enzymes may participate in the digestion of extracellular matrix, thus facilitating tumor invasion and metastasis. The identification of highly specific inhibitors may reveal new therapeutic opportunities. 

Vukicevic, S. et al. 1992. Identification of multiple active growth factors in basement membrane Matrigel suggests caution in interpretation of cellular activity related to extracellular activity related to extracellular matrix components. Exp. Cell Res. 202, 1-8. 

Kearns, D.B., Venot, A., Bonner, P.J., Stevens, B., Boons, G.-J. and Shimkets, L.J. (2001). Identification of a developmental chemoattractant in Myxococcus xanthus through metabolic engineering. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 98, 13990-13994. Kearns, D.B., Bonner, P.J., Smith, D.R. and Shimkets, L.J. (2002). An extracellular matrix-associated zinc metaUoprotease is required for dilauroyl phosphatidylethanolamine chemotactic excitation in Myxococcus xanthus. J. Bacteriol 184, 1678-1684. 

D. Evseenko, K. Schenke-Layland, G. Dravid, Y. Zhu, Q.L Hao, J. Scholes, X.C. Wang, W.R. Maclellan, and G.M. Crooks, Identification of the critical extracellular matrix proteins that promote human embryonic stem cell assembly. Stem Cells Develop., 18 (6) 919-928, Jul.-Aug. 2009. 

The identification of calcifying membranous extracellular vesicles within the matrix of cartilage, bone and dentine by electron microscopy455-457 is one of the most important developments in biomineralization in recent years. 

For species characterization, whole-cell and extracellular proteins (CUnk and Pennington 1987 Berber et al. 2(X)3) or cellular fatty acid analysis and/or combined with gas chromatography may be applied. In general, fatty acid profiles correlate with the data on DNA homology and phenotype features (Behme et al. 1996). Recently, matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDl-TOF MS) was experimentally applied to intact bacterial cells or specimens prepared nsing extraction procedures. This chemotaxonomic method was used for identification of the staphylococcal species and MRSA strains (Du et al. 2(X)2 Carbonnelle et al. 2007). 

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