Protease inhibitor treatments reveal specific involvement of matrix metalloproteinase-9 in human adipocyte differentiation.

We previously showed that human and murine 3T3-F442A preadipocytes produced and released matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) 2 and 9 and that a treatment by MMP inhibitors resulted in the blockade of murine fat cell adipose conversion. In parallel, investigators reported that other protease inhibitors, the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) protease inhibitors (PIs) involved in lipodystrophy in humans, also reduced the adipocyte differentiation process of several murine cell lines. The present work was performed to define the effects of MMP inhibitors and HIV-PIs on the human adipocyte differentiation process, to clarify the involvement of MMPs in the control of human adipogenesis, and to determine whether HIV-PIs interact with MMPs in the control of this process.