Oncostatin M, an interleukin-6 family cytokine, upregulates matrix metalloproteinase-9 through the mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase-extracellular signal-regulated kinase pathway in cultured smooth muscle cells.

OBJECTIVE: Matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-9 is implicated in extracellular matrix (ECM) degradation of atherosclerotic lesions. Oncostatin M (OSM) regulates ECM metabolism in various kinds of cells. Thus, we sought to investigate whether OSM regulates MMP-9 expression in cultured rat aortic smooth muscle cells (SMCs) and, if so, to determine the signaling pathway for MMP-9 induction by OSM.

METHODS AND RESULTS: Competitive reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction showed that OSM upregulated MMP-9 mRNA expression, peaking at 4 hours and returning to unstimulated levels by 24 hours. Gelatin zymography revealed that MMP-9 activity was increased in the conditioned medium after the 24-hour OSM treatment. Immunoblot analysis demonstrated that OSM transiently induced extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK)1/2 and STAT3 phosphorylations with a peak at 15 and 5 minutes, respectively. A MEK1 inhibitor, PD98059, not only blocked ERK1/2 phosphorylation but also abolished the OSM-induced MMP-9 upregulation, whereas the MMP-9 induction was not affected by overexpressing dominant-negative STAT3. In addition, OSM slightly upregulated MMP-2 and downregulated tissue inhibitors of MMP-1 and -3 through different mechanisms from that in case of MMP-9.

CONCLUSIONS: OSM upregulates MMP-9 expression in SMCs through the MEK-ERK but not STAT3 pathway.