Figure 2

Expression of MMP-9 and MMP-2 in astrocytes. A. Gelatine zymograms from culture supernatants of WT and KO astrocytes in control condition (lane 1) or after treatment with TNF-α (lane 2) and anti-Fas antibody (lane 3). Quantitative expression of the 94 kDa (MMP-9) (B) and the 63 kDa form of MMP-2 (C). Constitutive levels of MMP-2 in KO were higher than in WT astrocytes. MMP-9 was up-regulated by TNF-α in both strains of astrocytes. Fas activation significantly induced MMP-9 expression in WT astrocytes but not in KO astrocytes. D. Total gelatinase expression detected in gel zymography. The total gelatinase expression was higher in KO astrocytes as compared to WT astrocytes. TNF-α and anti-Fas treatments increased total gelatinase expression only in WT astrocytes. Values represent the mean +/- s.e.m. of at least three independent experiments. Statistical differences were determined by Student's t-test when comparing treatments to control cells within a given genotype (* p < 0.05) or KO vs WT cells (● p < 0.05).