Background: Leukemia is a malignant proliferative disorder of the hematopoietic cells. The important role of angiogenesis in leukemia has been reported by several studies. Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are a large group of endopeptidases which degredate the extracellular matrix and play an important role in angiogenesis.
Objective: The present study was conducted to evaluate the patterns of MMP-2 activity in three leukemic cell lines.
Methods: Human leukemic monocyte (U937) and T cells (Molt-4 and Jurkat) were cultured in complete RPMI-1640 medium. The cells were then seeded at a density of 106 cells/ml and were incubated with different concentrations of phorbol myristate acetate (PMA) (1-25 ng/ml) or phytoheamagglutinin (PHA) (2-10 μg/ml) for 24 hours. The MMP-2 activity in cell-conditioned media was then evaluated by gelatin zymography. Statistical comparisons between groups were made by analysis of variance (ANOVA).
Results: PHA/PMA significantly and dose-dependently increased MMP-2 activity in U937 cells after 24 hours of incubation compared with untreated control cells. Moreover, PHA/PMA significantly induced MMP-2 activity in Molt-4 and Jurkat cells after 24 hours of incubation in a dose-dependent manner compared with untreated control cells.
Conclusion: We conclude that human leukemic Jurkat, U937 and Molt-4 cells could potentially display MMP-2 activity with different degrees. Thus, these cell lines could provide an appropriate system to study the mechanisms regulating MMPs production in leukemia patients.