“…Several MMPs, including the collagenases MMP-1, -8, and -13, MMP-3 (stromelysin-1), the gelatinases MMP-2 and -9, and membrane type MMP-14 and -17, are expressed in articular c artilage. Active MMPs readily degrade type II collagen and aggrecan (Beekman, et al, 1998;Koshy, et al, 2002), and exogenous MMPs were shown to modulate the composition and material properties of bovine cartilage explants (Bonassar, et al, 1996). The primary substrate for MMPs on the aggrecan core protein is within the interglobular domain (IGD) at the VIPEN 360 -361 FFG bond (the equivalent substrate in bovine aggrecan is VDIPES 360 -361 FFG) .…”