Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) belong to a super family of endopeptidases which have been implicated as crucial mediators of angiogenesis and tumour invasion in brain tumours. This study was undertaken in an attempt to establish the relationship between 2 specific MMPs and the main classical subtypes of meningioma. We examined the expression of MMP-2 and -9 (gelatinase-A and -B respectively), by gelatin zymography, in a series of 18 cell cultures derived from human meningiomas of a range of histological subtypes and grades of malignancy, including 7 meningothelial, 6 transitional, 2 fibroblastic and 3 atypical meningiomas. Our findings indicate that generally, the meningothelial subtype, had the weakest expression, the transitional subtype had an intermediate expression whereas the fibroblastic subtype had the strongest expression of both MMP-2 and -9. There was no correlation between other clinicopathological features (age, sex, site of tumour) and the level of MMP-2 and -9 expression. Although, the number of samples in this study is limited, these findings suggest that there may be a trend for association between the expression of these 2 MMPs and the main classical histological subtypes of meningioma.

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