MMP2 and colorectal carcinoma: To test this theory of ours, we treated the CRC cells using JAK2 inhibitor AZD1480, and found the expression of MMP-2/-9 was “uncoupled” from COX-2 and PGE2, i.e. neither overexpression of COX-2 nor addition of ligand PGE2 could increase the protein levels of MMP-2/-9 (Fig 6A and 6C).