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MMP-2 may promote retinal transplant integration, mouse study shows
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BOSTON — Researchers at the Schepens Eye Research Institute have found that matrix metalloproteinase-2 can break down the outer surface barriers of a damaged retina and allow healthy donor cells to integrate and wire into remaining recipient tissue, according to a press release from the center.
The finding may be a key mechanism involved in successfully transplanting tissue into the adult central nervous system and may hold promise for treating patients with retinal diseases as well as those with spinal cord injuries or neurodegenerative disorders, such as Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease, the release said.
Michael Young, PhD, and colleagues at the institute examined how progenitor grafts affected neurite extension in the degenerating retina of rd1 mice. They found that the transplanted retinal progenitor cells caused an increase in matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) secretion, "partly from activated glial cells, which was then activated by neuronally expressed MMP14," the authors said in the study.
No increase in MMP-2 was seen in eyes that received whole-retina transplants, according to the release.
The study in published in the April 25 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience.