Sequence homology between a bacterial metalloproteinase and eukaryotic matrix metalloproteinases.

The origin and evolution of matrix metalloproteinases represent an exciting subject of study. Recently, various reports have searched for a relationship between bacterial and eukaryotic metalloproteinases. In this report, we constructed a phylogenetic tree using the amino acid sequence of one bacterial metalloproteinase and eight eukaryotic matrix metalloproteinases and performed multiple alignments with some of these sequences. We concluded that there is a familial relationship between members of the four major branches represented in the tree.