Dual effects of collagenase-3 on melanoma: metastasis promotion and disruption of vasculogenic mimicry

Vasculogenic mimicry (VM) is a functional microcirculation formed by tumor cells. Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), especially MMP-2 and MMP-9, promote VM formation. Another specific MMP, collagenase-3 (MMP-13), has broad substrate specificity and potentially affects tumor metastasis and invasion. Here we found that MMP-13 was associated with metastasis and poor survival in 79 patients with melanoma. MMP-13 expression was inversely correlated with VM. These results were confirmed in human and mouse melanoma cell lines. We found that MMP-13 cleaves laminin-5 (Ln-5) into small fragments to accelerate tumor metastasis. Degradation of Ln-5 and VE-cadherin by MMP-13 inhibited VM formation. In conclusion, MMP-13 has a dual effect in melanoma, as it promotes invasion and metastasis but disrupts VM formation.