82 Association of Matrix Metalloproteinase-7 and -12 Genes polymorphisms With Asthma: A Case-Control Study of MMP-7 and -12 in a Japanese Population

BACKGROUND: Genetic variants influencing lung function or immune system may be involved in the development of asthma and/or its symptoms. Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) contribute to both normal and pathological tissue remodeling and also act as regulatory molecules by processing cytokines or adhesion molecules. In animal models, growing evidences suggest that MMPs play important roles in asthma phenotypes. Some MMP genes (e.g. MMP-9 and MMP-12) have recently been shown to be associated with asthma in Caucasian populations. We investigated whether single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in MMP-7 and MMP-12 could affect the susceptibility to and clinical phenotypes of asthma in the Japanese population. METHODS: We conducted a case-control study between SNPs in MMP-7 and MMP-12 genes and asthma-related phenotypes using childhood and adult Japanese populations (653 childhood asthma patients and 423 controls, and 428 adult asthma patients and 646 controls, respectively). To investigate the effects of amino acid substitutions by SNPs on MMPs' enzymatic activity, MMP activity assays were performed using commercially available kits based on fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) peptide. We also evaluated the effect of 3’UTR SNP in MMP-7 on its mRNA stability and the effect of SNP in MMP-12 on its antimicrobial activity. RESULTS: We found that, in the Japanese population, SNPs of MMP-7 (rs10502001, G/A, Arg77His; rs14983, C/T, 3’UTR) (P = 0.006; odds ratio (OR), 1.46; 95% confidential interval (CI), 1.126-1.903) and MMP-12 (rs652438, A/G, Asn357Ser) (P = 0.015; OR, 1.60; 95% CI, 1.002-2.556) showed significant association with adult and childhood asthma, respectively. We also found that the SNP (rs652438) in MMP-12 was associated with severity in adult asthma (P = 0.010). Using supernatant from cultured HEK293 cells stably transfected with the pcDNA3.1(+)-MMP-7 or MMP-12 as MMP proteins, we evaluated activation kinetics, rate of proteolytic cleavage of FRET peptide, Michaelis constant, and substrate specificity of the enzyme. In this system, we couldn't detect the functional effects of amino acid substitutions by SNPs on the enzymatic activity. CONCLUSIONS: Our association study suggested that genetic variants of MMP7 and MMP12 conferred risk for development of asthma in the Japanese population.