Lipomannans (LM) from various mycobacterial species were found to induce expression and secretion of the matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP-9) both in human macrophage-like differentiated THP-1 cells and in primary human macrophages. Inhibition studies using antireceptor-neutralizing antibodies are indicative of a Toll-like receptor 1 (TLR1)/TLR2-and CD14-dependent signaling mechanism. Moreover, LM was shown to down-regulate transcription of the metalloproteinase inhibitor TIMP-1, a major endogenous MMP-9 regulator.Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) form a family of Zn 2ϩ -and Ca 2ϩ -dependent endopeptidases, which are involved in various physiological and pathological processes, through their capacity for degrading components of the extracellular matrix (11,32,36,37). MMP-9, known as the 92-kDa gelatinase B, is the predominant MMP secreted by monocytes/macrophages during bacterial diseases (7-9, 25, 27, 30, 31, 38). This enzyme is secreted as a proenzyme latent form, which undergoes extracellular proteolytic cleavage to provide the active form. Once secreted and activated, the activities of MMPs are regulated by specific tissue inhibitors (TIMPs) produced by a variety of cells, TIMP-1 being a major MMP-9 inhibitor (1). Although MMP-9 is a critical factor in host defense mechanisms by facilitating leukocyte extravasation into infected sites, excessive production of MMP-9 may contribute to host tissue injury and exacerbation of the inflammation response, as reported in Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection (3,9,28,30,31).Lipomannan (LM) and lipoarabinomannan (LAM) are major complex lipoglycans ubiquitously found in the mycobacterial cell wall. LM, considered as a direct biosynthetic precursor of LAM, is composed of a phosphatidyl-myo-inositol anchor linked to a D-mannan core. In LAM, the mannan domain is followed of a D-arabinan domain which can be capped by mannosyl or phosphoinositol residues (2, 16, 24). LM and LAM exhibit a wide array of biological activities which enhance antimycobacterial immune defenses or facilitate mycobacterial survival through inhibition of the immune response.The interaction of these lipoglycans with Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2), CD14, mannose receptor or dendritic cell-specific intracellular adhesion molecule 3 is dependent on structural features of LM and LAM (4,10,19,[21][22][23]29,31,35,39). LAM from M. tuberculosis was reported to up-regulate MMP-9 expression in the monocytic THP-1 cell line and in macrophages through binding to the mannose receptor (3, 30, 31). However, although recent studies have emphasized the role of LM as a strong immunomodulator (2), no information is available regarding to its potential contribution in MMP-9 secretion.In this study, we investigated the ability of LM from various mycobacteria, including pathogenic species, to stimulate MMP-9 gene expression and MMP-9 secretion from human macrophage-like THP-1 cells and human primary macrophages. We also addressed the possible involvement of TLR1, TLR2, and CD14 in MMP-9 production in response to LM stimulation.In...