Development of a Simple and Rapid Micro-Plate Assay for Matrix Metalloproteinase Activity to Screen for Anti-Rheumatoid Disease or Anti-Metastatic Agents in Tea Leaves

Abstract

On treatment for cancer, it is important to inhibit cancer metastasis. Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) play a crucial role in the process of cancer invasion and metastasis. On the other hand, the inhibition of MMPs production from synovial cell is essential to the prophylactic treatment of rheumatoid disease. In this paper, we developed a micro-plate assay for MMP-2 and MMP-9 (gelatinase/collagenase) activities to screen for antirheumatoid disease or anti-metastatic agents in tea leaves. This method is developed into the sandwich enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using avidin-biotin high affinity system and takes only five hours to measure MMPs activities.