Production and activity of matrix metalloproteinases during liver fibrosis progression of chronic hepatitis C patients

Figure 6 Evaluation of gelatinase activity by zymography. A: Representative zymography assays in 10% polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis copolymerized with 0.1 % (w/v) gelatin (molecular weight pattern). A total of 10 µg/mL of serum from chronic hepatitis C (CHC) patients and healthy individuals (n = 20) was loaded. Zymograms were activated overnight at pH 9.0 at 37 °C; B: Determination of gelatinases in different fibrosis stages (F0, F1, F2, F3 and F4) in the serum of CHC patients. Collagenase from Clostridium histolyticum (5 µg/mL) [C (+)] was used as the experimental control (CT). Five samples of each fibrosis stage and CT were evaluated in triplicate. MW: Molecular weight.