Relationship between Pathogenesis of Pterygia and Gene Expression of MMP and TIMP

Objective To investigate the role of matrix metalloproteinases(MMP) and tissue inhibitors of MMP(TIMP) played in pathogenesis of human pterygia. Methods 25 pterygium specimens and 20 non\|pterygia conjunctival biopsies were collected and the total RNA were extracted by Trizol reagent. Specific primers were designed using Primer 5.0 software to amplified the gene fragments corresponding to MMP1, MMP2, MMP3, MMP9 and TIMP1, TIMP2 respectively. The relative intensities of gene expression were estimated by the densitometry using GAPDH as the internal control. Results Transcription levels of MMP1 and MMP3 in pterygium specimens were higher than that of non\| pterygia conjunctival biopsies, however, there were no differences of transcription levels of MMP2, MMP9, TIMP1, TIMP2 between two groups. Conclusion Overtranscription of MMP1 and MMP3 and the imbalance between MMP and TIMP may play the important role in pathogenesis of pterygium.