• COLORECTAL CANCER • Matrix metalloproteinase-2 and tissue inhibitor of metallo- proteinase-2 in colorectal carcinoma invasion and metastasis

AIM: To explore the relationship between matrix metallopr-oteinase-2 (MMP-2) and tissue inhibitor of metallopr-oteinase-2 (TIMP-2) in the development of colorectal carcinoma and to provide a valuable marker for clinical diagnosis. METHODS: Twenty-five patients with colorectal carcinoma underwent surgical resection. Samples were taken from tumor sites and normal tissues. MMP-2 activity was determined by gelatin zymography. Western blot and ABC immunohist-ochemical staining were used to detect the expression levels of MMP-2 and TIMP-2 in normal and colorectal carcinoma tissues. Statistical analyses were performed using the Student’s t test and one-way ANOVA. P<0.05 was considered statistically significant. All the statistical analyses wer