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MMP-12 activates protease-activated receptor-1, upregulates placenta growth factor, and leads to pulmonary emphysema.

Because of the expansion of aging and smoking populations, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is predicted to be the third leading cause of death worldwide in 2030. Therefore, it is pertinent to develop effective therapy to improve management for COPD. Cigarette smoke-mediated protease-antiprotease imbalance is a major pathogenic mechanism for COPD and results in massive pulmonary infiltration of neutrophils and macrophages, releasing excessive neutrophil elastase (NE) and matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs). Our previous studies indicated that placenta growth factor (PGF) and PGF-triggered downstream signaling molecules mediate NE-induced lung epithelial cell apoptosis, which is a major pathogenic mechanism for pulmonary emphysema. However, the relationship between MMP-directed COPD and PGF remains elusive. We hypothesize that MMPs may upregulate PGF expression and be involved in MMP-mediated pathogenesis of COPD. In this study, we demonstrate that only MMP-12 can increase the expression of PGF by increasing early-growth response protein 1 (Egr-1) level through the activation of protease-activated receptor 1 (PAR-1). The PGF-mediated downstream signaling molecules drive caspase-3 and caspase-9-dependent apoptosis in bronchial epithelial cells. Both the upregulation of PGF by MMP-12 and PGF downstream signaling molecules with pulmonary apoptosis and emphysema were also demonstrated in animals. Given these findings, we suggest that both human COPD-associated elastases, NE, and MMP-12, upregulate PGF expression and promote the progression of emphysema and COPD.