Figure 4

Addition of MMP-2 and MMP-9 increases the sensitivity of CaCo-2 cells to hypoxia-induced cell damage. (A) Influence of recombinant MMP-2 and MMP-9 on the sensitivity of CaCo-2 cells to hypoxia-induced cell damage. Addition of MMP-2 (25 ng/mL) and MMP-9 (100 ng/mL) to MMP-deficient culture media increases the hypoxia-mediated LDH release 48 h after hypoxia. (B) Morphology of CaCo-2 cells grown under normoxia and hypoxia with and without addition of MMP-2 and MMP-9. Addition of MMP-2 and MMP-9 augments cell rounding and detachment from the growth surface after hypoxia. Numbers in the columns display the numbers of independently performed experiments. Columns show the mean ± SEM. *P < 0.05, two-tailed one-sample t test. Bars denote 15 µm. rdu, relative densitometric units.