ERJ Express. Published on June 9, 2011 as doi: 10.1183/09031936.00027411 A therapeutic role for MMP inhibitors in lung diseases? Roosmarijn E. Vandenbroucke1,2, Eline Dejonckheere1,2 and Claude Libert1,2,* 1Department for Molecular Biomedical Research, VIB, Ghent, Belgium 2Department of Biomedical Molecular Biology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium *Corresponding author. Mailing address: DBMR, VIB & Ghent University Technologiepark 927 B-9052 Ghent (Zwijnaarde) Belgium Phone: +32-9-3313700 Fax: +32-9-3313609 E-mail:
[email protected] 1 Copyright 2011 by the European Respiratory Society. A therapeutic role for MMP inhibitors in lung diseases? Abstract Disruption of the balance between matrix metalloproteinases and their endogenous inhibitors is considered a key event in the development of pulmonary diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, interstitial lung diseases and lung cancer. This imbalance often results in elevated net MMP activity, making MMP inhibition an attractive therapeutic strategy. Although promising results have been obtained, the lack of selective MMP inhibitors together with the limited knowledge about the exact functions of a particular MMP hampers the clinical application. This review discusses the involvement of different MMPs in lung disorders and future opportunities and limitations of therapeutic MMP inhibition. 1. Introduction The family of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) is a protein family of zinc dependent endopeptidases. They can be classified into subgroups based on structure (Figure 1), subcellular location and/or function [1, 2]. Although it was originally believed that they are mainly involved in extracellular matrix (ECM) cleavage, MMPs have a much wider substrate repertoire, and their specific processing of bioactive molecules is their most important in vivo role [3, 4].