Abstract
Macrophages have been shown to accumulate in hypoxic areas of solid tumors. These cells appear to undergo marked phenotypic changes and upregulate expression of a number of pro-tumor genes when exposed to hypoxia in vitro and in vivo as VEGF.Aim The aim of this study is to detect the release of MMP-7 protein in hypoxic macrophages (not only the intracellular levels) using zymography, western blotting and ELISA. Intracellular and secreted forms of pro-MMP-7 were shown to be upregulated by human MDM following 16 hours of exposure to hypoxia in vitro. The hypoxia up-regulated genes identified could be important for the survival and functioning of macrophages in hypoxic diseased tissues.Keywords: hypoxia, matrix metalloproteinase-7, macrophage, tumor-associated macrophages The effect of hypoxia on the production of matrix metalloproteinase-7 protein by human macrophages