SHIH-CHAN LAI2026-10-162026-10-162013-03-01Pure ID: 15231663Pure UUID: db87a651-501e-4c3f-aa23-2847555958e210.1016/j.actatropica.2012.11.002https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/84871871400https://scholars.csmu.edu.tw/handle/123456789/32617Toxoplasma gondii is a zoonotic parasite and its infection in human can induce toxoplasmic encephalitis in immune disorders. In this study, astroglia were infected with the TS-4 strain of T. gondii tachyzoite in vitro to investigate the changes of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2, MMP-9 and their substrate fibronectin. MMP-2 and MMP-9 were significantly increased at 1. h, 6. h and 12. h post-infection (PI) in the cell homogenates, and increased at 6. h, 12. h, 24. h and 48. h PI in the cell-cultured supernatants. Fibronectin degradation also occurred at the same time points. In addition, immunocytochemistry showed that MMP-2 and MMP-9 localized in the cytoplasm, and confocal scanning laser microscopy revealed co-labeled patterns of MMP-2 and MMP-9 with fibronectin. MMP-2 and MMP-9 interacted with fibronectin, respectively. These results suggest that MMP-2 and MMP-9 induction from astroglia may contribute to extracellular matrix (ECM) degradation occurring in toxoplasmosis. Thus, we hypothesize that MMP-2 and MMP-9 cleave fibronectin and may contribute to the astroglia reaction and leukocyte migration to the sites of T. gondii replication during toxoplasmic encephalitis.10enjournal article