Identification of matrix metalloproteinases secreted by human hepatocarcinoma HepG2 cells

To date, the development of anticancer drugs has been conducted using two-dimensional (2D) cell culture systems. However, since cancer cells in the body are generated and developed in three-dimensional (3D) microenvironments, the use of 2D anticancer drug screening can make it difficult to accurately evaluate the anticancer effects of drug candidates. Therefore, as a step towards developing a cancer cell-friendly 3D microenvironment based on a combination of vinylsulfone-functionalized polyethylene glycol (PEG-VS) with dicysteine-containing crosslinker peptides with an intervening matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-specific cleavage site, the types of MMPs secreted from human hepatocarcinoma HepG2 cells, a representative cancer cell, were analyzed transcriptionally and translationally. MMP3 was confirmed to be the most highly expressed protease secreted by HepG2 cells. This knowledge will be important in the design of a crosslinker necessary for the construction of PEG-based hydrogels customized for the 3D culture of HepG2 cells.