ecm - extraceller matrix

[tdamess]

what does this mean - Abstract
In amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), there is increased expression of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and degradation of the extracellular matrix in postmortem spinal cord tissue. We used zymography and in situ zymography to analyze the expression of MMP-2 and MMP-9 in spinal cord tissue from the G93A transgenic mouse model of ALS. Expression of MMP-9 was increased in the spinal cord of G93A mice. For functional analysis of the role of MMPs, we investigated the effects of oral administration of the MMP inhibitor Ro 28–2653 (100 mg/kg), starting at the age of 30 days (n = 19) and on disease onset (starting at the age of 90 days (n = 10)). Treatment with the MMP inhibitor Ro 28-2653 starting at 30 days of age improved motor performance and significantly (P < 0.05) prolonged the survival time of the animals (136 ± 12 versus 123 ± 12 days, mean ± SD), however, administration at disease onset did not significantly improve survival time. Our experiments show that MMPs are expressed in an animal model of ALS and may play a role in the complex pathophysiologic changes. Early pharmacologic inhibition with a synthetic MMP inhibitor extends survival of the animals which suggest a role of MMPs in the early phase of the disease.

did it help or not saw this on 60 minutes in july about regeneration body parts and it got me thinking about this as a way to rebuild muscles untill the cure is found , i do not know how to interrupet what this is saying

 

[rose]

... perhaps send this via a message to Wright? He's great at translating into an easier to understand language. He might not catch this post though, so a heads up to him would help.

 

[tdamess]

thanks rose will do

 

[tdamess]

you were right he explained it real good here was his reply -
Re: inturped please

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Hello td

Sorry it took me a bit to get back to you. I'll do my best to make sense of it for you.

There is a "mouse model" for ALS . . . meaning . . . that scientist have geneticallty produced a mouse that develops ALS and develops ALS symptoms at roughly the age of 90 days. That is what these scientists used for these experiments.

The abstract start by stating that high levels of MMP's (a certain type of protein) are found in the spinal cords of PALS (this has been found during autopsies). That led these scientists into thinking that maybe they could inhibit these MMP's with a drug and slow the disease process. That theory is what led to this study. They had to do it in animals first and they naturally chose the mice I discussed above.

What they did was give the drug to these "ALS mice" starting at either age 30 days or 90 days (again, 90 days is when the mice develop ALS symptoms). What they found is that if they gave it to the mice at 30 days, they could slow-down ALS but if they waited until 90 days when ALS symptoms developed, that it had no effect.

They interpreted this to possibly mean, that if the drug is given early enough to an ALS patient, they can slow-down the progression of ALS. Of course these experiments were done in mice and it would take some time to get FDA approval to start experiments in humans but it is a promising start.