In a transgenic mouse model, TNF-induced left ventricular remodeling and collagen content changes are driven by an imbalance between MMP and TIMP activity.
Our results suggest that progressive time-dependent changes in the balance between MMP activity and TIMP activity are responsible, at least in part, for the spectrum of TNF-induced changes in the myofibrillar collagen content that occur during LV structural remodeling in the MHCsTNF mice.
Sivasubramanian et al. (2001) studied this question.