Metalloproteinases: potential therapeutic targets for rheumatoid arthritis

In different inflammatory diseases, many metalloproteinases are over expressed and thought to promote progression of the disease. Understanding roles of these enzymes in disease progression as well as in normal homeostasis is crucial to identify target enzymes for the disease. Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is one of the autoimmune inflammatory diseases in which around 1-2 % of the world populations are suffered from. Roles of metalloproteinases are well documented in RA, but so far none of them is proposed to be a target enzyme. However, there are at least three enzymes that can potentially be molecular targets to inhibit progression of RA. Understanding roles of these enzymes in more detail and developing highly selective inhibitors to these enzymes would be essential for novel antimetalloproteinase therapies in future.