Downloaded from http://cshperspectives.cshlp.org/ on September 30, 2021 - Published by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press Extracellular Matrix Degradation and Remodeling in Development and Disease Pengfei Lu1,2, Ken Takai2, Valerie M. Weaver3, and Zena Werb2 1Breakthrough Breast Cancer Research Unit, Paterson Institute for Cancer Research and Wellcome Trust Centre for Cell Matrix Research, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester M20 4BX, United Kingdom 2Department of Anatomy and Program in Developmental Biology, University of California, San Francisco, California 94143-0452 3Department of Surgery and Center for Bioengineering and Tissue Regeneration, University of California, San Francisco, California 94143 Correspondence:
[email protected] The extracellular matrix (ECM) serves diverse functions and is a major component of the cellular microenvironment. The ECM is a highly dynamic structure, constantly undergoing a remodeling process where ECM components are deposited, degraded, or otherwise modified. ECM dynamics are indispensible during restructuring of tissue architecture. ECM remodeling is an important mechanism whereby cell differentiation can be regulated, including processes such as the establishment and maintenance of stem cell niches, branch- ing morphogenesis, angiogenesis, bone remodeling, and wound repair. In contrast, abnor- mal ECM dynamics lead to deregulated cell proliferation and invasion, failure of cell death, and loss of cell differentiation, resulting in congenital defects and pathological processes including tissue fibrosis and cancer. Understanding the mechanisms of ECM remodeling and its regulation, therefore, is essential for developing new therapeutic inter- ventions for diseases and novel strategies for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. he extracellular matrix (ECM) forms a milieu versatile and performs many functions in addi- Tsurrounding cells that reciprocally influ- tion to its structural role.