IntroductionProtease-activated receptors (PARs) are members of the G-protein coupled receptor superfamily whose cellular responses are driven through various G-protein and non-G-protein pathways, resulting in a diverse array of physiologic outputs. 1 PARs were identified Ͼ 20 years ago with the discovery of the first thrombin receptor, 2,3 later renamed PAR1. Elucidation of the unusual proteolytic mechanism of receptor activation paved the way for the subsequent discovery of PAR2, PAR3, and PAR4. 4 After the observation that human platelets could be activated by proteolytic cleavage of PAR1 by thrombin, many other members of the serine protease family were found to be capable of activating one or another of the PARs, including plasmin, activated protein C, thrombocytin, PA-BJ, factor Xa, factor VIIa, kallikreins, cathepsin G, trypsin, matriptase, and tryptase. [5][6][7][8] Considering that PARs were initially identified as thrombin receptors, their role in the vasculature is paramount. 1 PARs are expressed on nearly all cell types in the blood vessel wall and blood, the notable exception being red blood cells. 1 PAR1 is the high-affinity thrombin receptor and is expressed on the surface of endothelium, smooth muscle cells, platelets, neutrophils, macrophages, and leukemic white cells. 9,10 Thrombin activation of PAR1 promotes platelet aggregation, shape change, adhesion, cell proliferation, chemokine production, and migration via G q , G i , and G 12/13 pathways. 11 In this review, we focus on the unexpected discovery that the zinc-dependent matrix metalloprotease-1 (MMP-1) is able to cleave and activate PAR1 at a noncanonical site, 12 which leads to a signaling pattern in platelets and other cells distinct from that seen with thrombin. Platelets harbor abundant proMMP-1 zymogen on their surface, 13 which is converted to active MMP-1 after exposure to collagen fibrils. 12 Recently, a second MMP, MMP-13, was identified as having the capacity to cleave and activate PAR1 on cardiac fibroblasts and cardiomyocytes, resulting in pathologic activation of downstream signaling events that contribute to heart failure. 14 Emerging evidence suggests that selective proteolytic activation of PAR1 by MMPs, such as MMP-1 and MMP-13, will be important contributors to the evolution of a variety of disease processes, including thrombus initiation and thrombosis, atherosclerosis and restenosis, sepsis, angiogenesis, heart failure, and cancer ( Figure 1).
Divergence in the MMP familyMMPs compose a family of 28 zinc-dependent endopeptidases, which are further subdivided based on their distinct, albeit overlapping, substrate specificity. 15 MMP-1, -8, and -13, otherwise known as the interstitial collagenases, are capable of initiating the degradation of fibrillar-type collagens by cleaving at a single site threefourths of the way from the N-terminus. 16 Because collagen is the most abundant protein in the human body, the collagenases represent an essential enzyme class involved in normal development and tissue repair. 17 MMP-2 and -...