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Updated: Mar 8, 2026

Human Dupuytren's Ex Vivo Culture for the Study of Myofibroblasts and Extracellular Matrix Interactions
Published on: April 18, 2015
Relaxin Modulates the Expression of MMPs and TIMPs in Fibroblasts of Patients with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
Young Mi Kang1, Hwan Mo Lee2, Seong Hwan Moon1,2
1BK21 PLUS Project for Medical Science, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
Purpose:
The aim of this study was to investigate the anti-fibrotic effect of relaxin in subsynovial fibroblasts activated by transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β).
Materials And Methods:
To test the anti-fibrotic effect of an adenovirus-relaxin construct (Ad-RLN) on subsynovial fibroblasts in vitro, cells from subsynovial connective tissue of patients with carpal tunnel syndrome were activated with TGF-β1 and exposed to Ad-RLN (as a therapeutic gene) or adenovirus-lacZ construct (as a marker gene) for four hours. Subsynovial fibroblast cultures without adenoviral exposure served as controls.
Results:
We observed induction of gene expressions of collagen I, III and IV, as well as the abatement of alpha-smooth muscle actin (a-SMA) synthesis, Smad2 phosphorylation, and fibronectin at the protein level, in comparison to controls. In addition, protein expressions of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) I was significantly induced, whereas the protein expressions of tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases (TIMP) I and IV were reduced due to relaxin expression.
Conclusion:
RLN prevents excessive synthesis of extracellular matrix by reducing the expressions of its components, such as fibronectin, a-SMA, and phosphorylated Smad2, by increasing the expression of MMPs; and by decreasing the expression of TIMPs.
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