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Protein / target

Neutrophil collagenase

Encoded byMMP8P22894Homo sapiensSwiss-Prot
Clinically validated
Therapeutic maturity
2
Approved medicines
Open Targets target-level
View by indication →
30
Clinical trials
Small-molecule tractable
Druggability
Approved Drug

Protein at a glance

Biological role

Serine-type endopeptidase

Strongest disease association

Periodontitis

Via encoding gene MMP8 · Literature evidence · score 0.58

Therapeutic position

Established drug target

Small molecules

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

Can degrade fibrillar type I, II, and III collagens

Subcellular location

Cytoplasmic granuleSecreted, extracellular space, extracellular matrix
Domains and Gene Ontology detail (21)

Gene Ontology

  • Cextracellular matrix
  • Cextracellular region
  • Cextracellular space
  • Cspecific granule lumen
  • Ctertiary granule lumen
  • Fendopeptidase activity
  • Fmetalloendopeptidase activity
  • Fpeptidase activity
  • Fserine-type endopeptidase activity
  • Ftumor necrosis factor binding
  • Fzinc ion binding
  • Pcellular response to lipopolysaccharide

467 aa · 53 kDa

Biological roles

Reactome v97

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

Cell adhesionUniProt · GO · ReactomeProteolysisGO
View supporting evidence

Cell adhesion

  • ·Secreted, extracellular space, extracellular matrix
  • ·extracellular matrix
  • ·extracellular matrix disassembly
  • ·extracellular matrix organization

Proteolysis

  • ·endopeptidase activity
  • ·metalloendopeptidase activity
  • ·peptidase activity
  • ·serine-type endopeptidase activity
View underlying pathways (4)

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

Interaction neighbourhood

STRING v12.0

Proteins with the strongest functional or physical association. Node size and line weight reflect STRING confidence; hover or select a partner to inspect one association.

CEACAM8DEFA4ELANESERPIN…TIMP2OLFM4A2MMPOTIMP4TIMP1MMP8

10 strongest partners — larger node and heavier line mean higher confidence

Functional and physical associations from STRING v12.0. Only associations with this protein are drawn — partner-to-partner links are not part of this evidence.

Approved medicines with mapped indications

1 medicine · 10 areas

Approved therapies targeting this protein, grouped by what they are approved to treat — the disease-first view of the medicines below. Relationships come from the canonical approved-indication graph (ChEMBL phase-4), the same source as the drug cards.

Acne Vulgaris1 medicine
Bacterial Infections1 medicine
Brucellosis1 medicine
Cholera1 medicine
Gonorrhea1 medicine
Infections1 medicine
Malaria1 medicine
Periodontitis1 medicine
Pneumonia1 medicine
Rosacea1 medicine

2 medicines meet Open Targets' target-level approved-medicine definition; the 1 shown here are those on this page with a canonical approved disease indication in the graph. Approved indications from ChEMBL (phase-4), via the canonical drug→disease graph.

Drugs targeting this protein

2

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.

Doxycycline
ApprovedInhibitor

Matrix metalloproteinase 8 inhibitor

Indicated for Acne Vulgaris, Bacterial Infections, Brucellosis, Cholera

Direct interaction with this protein · 1 of 59 recorded protein targets — broad pharmacology

Rebimastat
Phase 3Inhibitor

Matrix metalloproteinase 8 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 MMP8

Gene-level evidence surfaced through the gene MMP8 that 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.

Periodontitis
0.73Moderately supported

Clinical evidence dominant · Open Targets 0.58

Infections
0.69Moderately supported

Clinical evidence dominant · Open Targets 0.55

Pneumonia
0.59Moderately supported

Clinical evidence dominant · Open Targets 0.47

Chronic periodontitis
0.50Moderately supported

Clinical evidence dominant · Open Targets 0.39

Gonorrhea
0.48Limited support

Clinical evidence dominant · Open Targets 0.39

View evidence synthesis (5)
PeriodontitisModerately supported
0.73
agreement 0.570.88
Clinical83%Literature17%

Open Targets aggregate 0.58 · 2 independent evidence families

InfectionsModerately supported
0.69
agreement 0.530.84
Clinical93%Literature8%

Open Targets aggregate 0.55 · 2 independent evidence families

PneumoniaModerately supported
0.59
agreement 0.430.74
Clinical94%Literature6%

Open Targets aggregate 0.47 · 2 independent evidence families

Chronic periodontitisModerately supported
0.50
agreement 0.340.66
Clinical85%Literature15%

Open Targets aggregate 0.39 · 2 independent evidence families

GonorrheaLimited support
0.48
agreement 0.330.64
Clinical98%Literature2%

Open Targets aggregate 0.39 · 2 independent evidence families

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
Periodontitis0.58
Infections0.55
Pneumonia0.47
Gonorrhea0.39
Chronic periodontitis0.39

Drug development

4 compounds recorded · 2 approved · 2 in clinical development

Open Targets' development universe — every compound recorded against the target at any stage, not all approved medicines. Distinct from the 2 drugs that target this protein in Forefront's canonical graph (1 with a mapped approved indication, shown above): these count different sets and are not a subset relation.

View all recorded compounds (4)
REBIMASTATPhase 3
CTS-1027Phase 2
DOXYCYCLINE HYCLATEApproval
DOXYCYCLINEApproval

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

Approved Drug 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 (8)
SM · Approved DrugSM · Structure with LigandSM · High-Quality LigandSM · 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.

Clinical trials

30

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.

View all trials (26)

ACTIVE_NOT_RECRUITING · via Doxycycline · NCT02713607

ACTIVE_NOT_RECRUITING · via Doxycycline · NCT04108897

COMPLETED · via Doxycycline · NCT05296837

COMPLETED · via Doxycycline · NCT05853120

ClinicalTrials.gov via the drug-target graph.

What's happening now

12

Recent therapeutic activity around this target — regulatory actions, clinical trials and safety signals for a drug that targets this protein, plus publications where such a drug is a genuine subject. Every item is reached indirectly through the drug, not the protein itself; incidental mentions (a paper that merely measures a drug) and press items are excluded.

  1. Trial status changed2026-09-17

    Doxycycline in Combination With Sitagliptin on the Glycemic and Cardiac Indices in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

    Status changed to Completed · ClinicalTrials.gov · via Doxycycline

  2. Trial status changed2026-08-20

    ORBS: Ocular Rosacea Biome Study

    Status changed to Completed · ClinicalTrials.gov · via Doxycycline

  3. Label change2026-08-11

    Label change: DOXYCYCLINE (ANDA207289)

    fda · regulatory · fda · via Doxycycline

  4. Label change2026-06-12

    Label change: DOXYCYCLINE (ANDA204234)

    fda · regulatory · fda · via Doxycycline

  5. Label change2025-06-24

    Label change: DOXYCYCLINE (ANDA207289)

    fda · regulatory · fda · via Doxycycline

  6. Label change2025-04-25

    Label change: DOXYCYCLINE (ANDA204234)

    fda · regulatory · fda · via Doxycycline

  7. Label change2025-04-25

    Label change: DOXYCYCLINE (ANDA204234)

    fda · regulatory · fda · via Doxycycline

  8. Label change2025-03-31

    Label change: DOXYCYCLINE (ANDA207757)

    fda · regulatory · fda · via Doxycycline

  9. New publication2024-01-30
    Guidelines of care for the management of acne vulgaris.

    Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology · 2024 · 236 citations · Europe PMC · via Doxycycline

  10. New publication2020-05-01
    Effect of Doxycycline on Aneurysm Growth Among Patients With Small Infrarenal Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

    JAMA · 2020 · 114 citations · Europe PMC · via Doxycycline

  11. New publication2011-09-28
    A randomized controlled trial of subantimicrobial-dose doxycycline to prevent unscheduled bleeding with continuous oral contraceptive pill use.

    Contraception · 2012 · 9 citations · Europe PMC · via Doxycycline

  12. New publication2005-07-01
    Effects of doxycycline on progression of osteoarthritis: results of a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind trial.

    Arthritis and rheumatism · 2005 · 186 citations · Europe PMC · via Doxycycline

Objective event titles are shown unmodified; the event kind and significance line are derived from structured fields. Forefront AttentionEvent stream aggregating Europe PMC Regulatory filings ClinicalTrials.gov.