Increased synthesis and secretion of the matrix metalloproteinase has been associated with the acquisition of the invasive properties of malignant cells. In a rat malignant anaplastic cell line (T952/F7) sporadic expression of mRNA for collagenase-3 against a background of high transin-l mRNA has been shown. Sporadic induction of either metalloproteinase was not found in the benign precursor cells (A5P/B10) of T952/F7 cells, but a coordinate mRNA induction profile for these two genes could be induced by the addition of 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate. In a different uncloned neoplastic epithelial cell line (BCl) fluctuations in the levels of collagenase and transin appeared coordinately, but coordinate expression was not a feature in cloned lines derived from BCl. The loss of coordinate regulation of the two matrix metalloproteinases may relate to the variability in metastatic potential seen in clonal cell lines.

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