History
MMPs were described initially by Jerome Gross and Charles Lapiere (1962), who observed enzymatic activity (collagen triple helix degradation) during tadpole tail metamorphosis (by placing a tadpole tail in a collagen matrix plate). Therefore, the enzyme was named interstitial collagenase (MMP-1).
Later, it was purified from human skin (1968), and was recognized to be synthesized as a zymogen.
The "cysteine switch" was described in 1990.
Read more about this topic: Matrix Metalloproteinase
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