The gene expression of five matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and two tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases (TIMPs) was studied in human gliomas in vivo and in vitro to evaluate their roles in glioma invasion. Simultaneous expression of one to four MMP genes and two TIMP genes was found in 17 surgical glioma specimens, and one MMP (gelatinase A) gene and two TIMP genes were simultaneously expressed in tissue of three brains. The concomitant overexpression of gelatinase A, gelatinase B, and occasional matrilysin genes was associated with the malignancy of gliomas and accompanied by overexpression of the TIMP-1 gene. In five human glioma cell lines, gelatinase A, TIMP-1, and TIMP-2 genes were constitutively expressed in alll cell lines: the matrilysin gene in three cell lines; the stromelysin gene in two cell lines; and the interstitial collagenase gene in one cell line. There was a clear difference in the expression of gelatinase B and stromelysin genes between surgical glioma specimens and glioma cell lines: the gelatinase B gene was not expressed constitutively in vitro but was overexpressed in vivo, whereas the stromelysin gene was not expressed in vivo but was expressed in some cell lines. To find the cause of that difference in vivo and in vitro, the transcriptional regulations of MMP and TIMP genes by tumor promoter, growth factors, or cytokines were studied in vitro. Interstitial collagenase, gelatinase B, stromelysin, and TIMP-1 genes were upregulated in many cell lines by phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate (PMA) and in some cell lines by epidermal growth factor, tumor necrosis factor-alpha, or interleukin-1 beta. Transforming growth factor-beta 1 (TGF beta 1) upregulated gelatinase A and matrilysin genes in some cell lines, and there were no clear responses from any MMP and TIMP genes to interleukin-6. Thus, the transcriptional modulation of MMP genes by these growth factors and cytokines seemed insufficient to explain the difference in gelatinase B and stromelysin gene expressions in vivo and in vitro and was suggestive of the genetic alteration of glioma cells in vitro, the heterogeneous cell population in glioma tissues, or both. Furthermore, the in vitro invasion of glioma cells through Matrigel in response to PMA, TGF beta 1, or TIMP-1 was assessed by chemoinvasion assay. In most cell lines, invasion was significantly stimulated by PMA or TGF beta 1 but suppressed by TIMP-1.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)