A Motif in Metallopeptidase Inhibitor Decreases Effectively the Activity of Macrophage Metalloproteinases

Objective: The tissue remodeling process and cellular migration relate to the activities of Matrix Metalloproteinases (MMPs). The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of a predicted motif from TIMPs on the MMP-2 and MMP-9 activities secreted from the differentiated macrophages. Materials and Methods: The monocytes were isolated from the healthy individuals by RosetteSep kit and were differentiated into macrophages using M-CSF. A 4-amino acid motif (TCAP) was predicted using bioinformatics tools. Zymography technique was applied for the measurement of MMP activities. The docking studies were also investigated between MMPs, tetrapeptide, and Batimastat. Results: The TCAP inhibited significantly the differentiated macrophage MMP-2 and MMP-9 activities (p=0.0001and p=0.01, respectively). The docking results suggested that some MMP amino acids are involved with both tetrapeptide (TCAP) and Batimastat, Conclusion: The data showed that the small motif (TCAP) of TIMPs inhibits effectively the MMP- 2 activity.