Background: Cholesterol is a major component of specialized membrane microdomains known as lipid rafts or caveolae, which modulate the fluidity of biological membranes. Membrane cholesterol therefore plays an important role in cell signaling and vesicular transport.
Objective: In this study, we investigated the effects of cholesterol on matrix metalloproteinase-1 (MMP-1) expression in human dermal fibroblasts.
Methods: MMP-1 mRNA and protein expression were determined by RT-PCR and Western blotting, respectively. AP-1 DNA binding activity was detected by electrophoretic mobility shift assays. The amount of cholesterol was analyzed by cholesterol assay kit.
Results: We observed that MMP-1 mRNA and protein expression was dose-dependently decreased by cholesterol treatment. In contrast, cholesterol depletion by a cholesterol depletion agent, methyl-beta-cyclodextrin (MβCD) in human dermal fibroblasts, increased MMP-1 mRNA and protein expression in a dose-dependent manner. Also, we investigated the regulatory mechanism of MβCD-induced MMP-1 expression: cholesterol depletion by MβCD, activated ERK1/2 and JNK, but not p38 MAPK cascade, and it also significantly increased c-Jun phosphorylation, c-Fos expression and activator protein-1 binding activity. Furthermore, the inhibition of ERK or JNK with specific chemical inhibitors prevented MβCD-induced MMP-1 expression, which indicates that ERK and JNK play an important role in cholesterol depletion-mediated MMP-1 induction. In addition, MβCD-induced phosphorylation of ERK and JNK and MMP-1 expression were suppressed by cholesterol repletion.
Conclusion: Our results suggest that cholesterol regulates MMP-1 expression through the control of ERK and JNK activity in human dermal fibroblasts.
Keywords: AP-1; Cholesterol; MMP-1; Methyl-beta-cyclodextrin.