Consistently, prostate epithelium-specific inactivation of Aes in Pten<sup>flox/flox</sup> mice increased expression of Snail and MMP9, and accelerated growth, invasion and lymph node metastasis of the mouse prostate tumor.
These inhibitory effects were accompanied by mechanistic down-regulation of the protein levels of inflammatory enzymes (inducible nitric oxide synthase, iNOS and cyclooxygenase-2, COX-2), metastasis (matrix metallopeptidase-2, MMP-2 and MMP-9), angiogenesis (vascular endothelial growth factor, VEGF), and proliferative molecules, as well as by the induction of apoptosis in prostate tumors.
The ratio of matrix metalloproteinase to E-cadherin expression: a pilot study to assess mRNA and protein expression among African American prostate cancer patients.