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Protein / target

72 kDa type IV collagenase

Encoded byMMP2P08253Homo sapiensSwiss-Prot
Clinical-stage
Therapeutic maturity
3
Clinical candidates
4
Clinical trials
Small-molecule tractable
Druggability
Advanced Clinical

Protein at a glance

Biological role

Serine-type endopeptidase

Strongest disease association

Musculoskeletal Diseases

Via encoding gene MMP2 · Genetic evidence · score 0.50

Therapeutic position

Clinically advancing target

Small molecules

Research activity

Emerging research

2 papers · latest 2025

Derived from structured UniProt, Open Targets and literature data on this page.

Protein profile

UniProt 2026_02

Canonical identity and biological annotation from UniProt.

Function overview

Ubiquitinous metalloproteinase that is involved in diverse functions such as remodeling of the vasculature, angiogenesis, tissue repair, tumor invasion, inflammation, and atherosclerotic plaque rupture.

View complete UniProt function annotation

Ubiquitinous metalloproteinase that is involved in diverse functions such as remodeling of the vasculature, angiogenesis, tissue repair, tumor invasion, inflammation, and atherosclerotic plaque rupture. As well as degrading extracellular matrix proteins, can also act on several nonmatrix proteins such as big endothelial 1 and beta-type CGRP promoting vasoconstriction. Also cleaves KISS at a Gly-|-Leu bond. Appears to have a role in myocardial cell death pathways. Contributes to myocardial oxidative stress by regulating the activity of GSK3beta. Cleaves GSK3beta in vitro. Involved in the formation of the fibrovascular tissues in association with MMP14

Subcellular location

Secreted, extracellular space, extracellular matrixMembraneNucleusCytoplasmMitochondrion
Domains and Gene Ontology detail (55)

Domains & features

Fibronectin type-II 1Fibronectin type-II 2Fibronectin type-II 3

Gene Ontology

  • Cextracellular matrix
  • Cextracellular region
  • Cextracellular space
  • Cmitochondrion
  • Cnucleus
  • Cplasma membrane
  • Csarcomere
  • Fendopeptidase activity
  • Ffibronectin binding
  • Fmetalloendopeptidase activity
  • Fmetallopeptidase activity
  • Fserine-type endopeptidase activity

660 aa · 74 kDa · 3 isoforms

Biological roles

What this protein does, drawn together from its UniProt function, Gene Ontology terms and Reactome pathways.

Cell migrationGOCell adhesionUniProt · GOProteolysisGOImmune signallingGO
View supporting evidence

Cell migration

  • ·cell migration
  • ·macrophage chemotaxis
  • ·positive regulation of cell migration
  • ·trophoblast cell migration

Cell adhesion

  • ·Ubiquitinous metalloproteinase that is involved in diverse functions such as remodeling…
  • ·Secreted, extracellular space, extracellular matrix
  • ·extracellular matrix
  • ·extracellular matrix disassembly

Proteolysis

  • ·endopeptidase activity
  • ·metalloendopeptidase activity
  • ·metallopeptidase activity
  • ·serine-type endopeptidase activity

Immune signalling

  • ·cellular response to interleukin-1
  • ·trophoblast cell migration

Concepts derived from UniProt GO Reactome — each badge above shows which sources supported that role.

Drugs targeting this protein

1

How approved and investigational drugs engage this protein — mechanism and action type, direct vs complex targeting, and how broadly each acts across other targets. A drug-first view (the section above groups the approved ones disease-first); direct binders with few recorded targets are listed first.

Rebimastat
Phase 3Inhibitor

Matrix metalloproteinase-2 inhibitor

Direct interaction with this protein · 1 of 6 recorded protein targets

ChEMBL mechanism, action type, target identity and approved indications. Open Targets clinical status.

Translational evidence

Open Targets 26

Why this target matters therapeutically, strongest evidence first. Disease associations are gene-level (via the gene that encodes this protein) and open into the full confidence synthesis; the development universe, tractability and safety annotations are target-level, from Open Targets.

Strongest disease associations · via encoding gene MMP2

Gene-level evidence surfaced through the gene MMP2that encodes this protein — not a direct protein–disease relationship. Ranked by Forefront's causal-directness weighting, so genetically- and clinically-evidenced diseases lead over ones that merely share the literature.

Musculoskeletal Diseases
0.51Moderately supported

Genetic evidence dominant · Open Targets 0.31

Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung
0.50Moderately supported

Clinical evidence dominant · Open Targets 0.37

Breast Neoplasms
0.44Limited support

Clinical evidence dominant · Open Targets 0.31

Prostatic Neoplasms
0.41Limited support

Clinical evidence dominant · Open Targets 0.30

View evidence synthesis (4)
Musculoskeletal DiseasesModerately supported
0.51
agreement 0.370.64
Genetic99%Literature1%

Open Targets aggregate 0.31 · 2 independent evidence families

Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell LungModerately supported
0.50
agreement 0.340.66
Clinical76%Literature24%

Open Targets aggregate 0.37 · 2 independent evidence families

Breast NeoplasmsLimited support
0.44
agreement 0.280.59
Clinical70%Literature30%

Open Targets aggregate 0.31 · 2 independent evidence families

Prostatic NeoplasmsLimited support
0.41
agreement 0.250.56
Clinical81%Literature20%

Open Targets aggregate 0.30 · 2 independent evidence families

This ranking differs from Open Targets' own: re-weighting moves genetically-evidenced diseases above more heavily co-mentioned ones. The evidence agreement range shows how closely the independent evidence families agree — it is not a statistical confidence interval, and nothing here is fitted to outcome data. Derived from Open Targets evidence types under Forefront weighting; the per-type scores above show the calculation.

Show all associations
Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung0.37
Breast Neoplasms0.31
Musculoskeletal Diseases0.31
Prostatic Neoplasms0.30

Drug development

3 compounds recorded · 3 in clinical development

Open Targets' development universe — every compound recorded against the target at any stage, not all approved medicines. Distinct from the 1 drug that targets this protein in Forefront's canonical graph: these count different sets and are not a subset relation.

View all recorded compounds (3)
MARIMASTATPhase 3
CTS-1027Phase 2
REBIMASTATPhase 3

Open Targets known-drugs universe. Drug name and highest clinical stage only — the disease relationship is NOT read from this slice (it carries trial-context noise); approved indications come from the canonical graph above.

Tractability

Small moleculesStrong

Advanced Clinical and Structure with Ligand support this modality.

AntibodiesEmerging

Feasibility evidence (uniprot loc high conf and go cc high conf) — no clinical-stage drug of this modality recorded.

Protein degradersEmerging

Feasibility evidence (small molecule binder) — no clinical-stage drug of this modality recorded.

View underlying tractability evidence (9)
SM · Advanced ClinicalSM · Structure with LigandSM · High-Quality LigandSM · High-Quality PocketSM · Druggable FamilyAB · UniProt loc high confAB · GO CC high confAB · UniProt SigP or TMHMMPR · Small Molecule Binder

Raw Open Targets tractability assessment buckets, by modality.

Safety-related annotations

regulation of catalytic activityToxCast

Terms indexed against this target in Open Targets' safety data, with their datasource. These are annotations, not causal claims: the direction of effect (whether activation or inhibition is implicated), species and evidence strength are not captured here, so an entry does not mean that modulating this target is known to cause that condition.

Clinical trials

4

Trials of drugs that target this protein — reached indirectly through those drugs, so a trial listed here studies the drug, not the protein. Ranked by active status, then clinical phase and recency, and spread across the targeting drugs.

ClinicalTrials.gov via the drug-target graph.

Research activity

2 papers · to 2025

Papers linked directly to this protein. This is the protein's own literature — descriptor-derived papers are kept separate below.

Most cited

Cabral-Pacheco GA · International journal of molecular sciences · 2020

Recent

Europe PMC papers linked directly to this protein.