Hypoxia Down-regulates Secretion of MMP-2, MMP-9 in Porcine Pulmonary Artery Endothelial and Smooth Muscle Cells and the Role of HIF-1

Summary： Primary cell culture, techniques of gene transfection, gelatin zymography, and Western blot were used to investigate the effect of hypoxia on the secretion of MMP 2 and MMP-9 in pulmonary artery endothelial cells （PAEC） and smooth muscle cells （PASMC）, and the role of HIF-1. Our results showed that （1） after exposure to hypoxia for 24 h, the protein content and activity of MMP-2 in the PAEC medium as well as these of MMP-2 and MMP-9 in PASMC medium （P〈0. 01 ） decreased significantly in contrast to those in normoxic group （P（0.05） ; （2） after transfection of wild type EPO3＇ enhancer, a HIF-1 decoy, the content and activity of MMP 2 and MMP-9 in hypoxic mediums became higher than those in normoxic group （P〈0. 01）, while transfection of mutant EPO3＇-enhancer didn＇t affect the hypoxia-induced down-regulation. It is concluded that hypoxia could inhibit the secretion and activity of MMP 2 and MMP-9 in PAEC and PASMC, which could he mitigated by the transfection of EPO3 ＇-enhancer and that H1F-1 pathway might contribute to hypoxia-induced down regulation of MMP-2 and MMP-9.