Stromelysin synthesizing cells in the synovial tissues of rheumatoid arthritis demonstrated by in situ hybridization and immunohistochemical methods.

We identified the cells synthesizing stromelysin to be synovial cells in the synovial tissue from four biopsy cases with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) by in situ hybridization and immunohistochemical studies. In the cases which showed severe inflammation of synovia such as well developed lymphoid follicle and diffuse inflammatory infiltration, synovial cells located only in the superficial layer of synovial tissues showed abundant mRNA and enzymic protein of stromelysin.