Tissue-type plasminogen activator (t-PA) induces stromelysin-1 (MMP-3) in endothelial cells through activation of lipoprotein receptor-related protein

Tissue-type plasminogen activator (t-PA) is approved for treatment of ischemic stroke patients, but it increases the risk of intracranial bleeding (ICB). Previously, we have shown in a mouse stroke model that stromelysin-1 (matrix metalloproteinase-3 [MMP-3]) induced in endothelial cells was critical for ICB induced by t-PA. In the present study, using bEnd. 3 cells, a mouse brain-derived endothelial cell line, we showed that MMP-3 was induced by both ischemic stress and t-PA treatment. This induction by t-PA was prevented by inhibition either of low-density lipoprotein receptor-related protein (LRP) or of nuclear factor-kappa B activation. LRP was upregulated by ischemic stress, both in bEnd. 3 cells in vitro and in endothelial cells at the ischemic damage area in the mouse stroke model. Furthermore, inhibition of LRP suppressed both MMP-3 induction in endothelial cells and the increase in ICB by t-PA treatment after stroke. These findings indicate that t-PA deteriorates ICB via MMP-3 induction in endothelial cells, which is regulated through the LRP/nuclear factor-kappa B pathway. (Blood. 2009; 114: 3352-3358)