ABSTRACT
Matrix metalloproteinases (MMP) are a family of zinc-containing proteolytic enzymes which have physiological roles in tissue remodelling and development. In terms of immunity to infection, MMP are involved in leucocyte recruitment to sites of invasion by pathogens. However, secreted in excess, MMP have the potential to contribute to tissue destruction and clinical pathology in infectious diseases. In view of their potential harmful effects, MMP secretion is tightly regulated at the level of gene transcription, by secretion as pro-forms requiring enzymatic activation and by specific tissue inhibitors of MMP (TIMP). In the first part of
this chapter, the basic mechanisms of action of MMP and ways in which their tissue levels may be regulated are reviewed. The second part then considers the potential role of MMP in central nervous system infections and in tuberculosis, which has been the focus of our own interest.
