MMP9 and diabetes mellitus: Figure 8 shows the upregulation of chemoattractive and inflammatory cytokines of MCP-1, CCL5, and MMP-9 were significantly higher in diabetic WT mice (group 3) compared to the non-diabetes group (group 1 and group 2). However, the expression of these proteins was lower in diabetic RasGRF1−/− mice compared to diabetic WT mice. In addition, the expression of these proteins were increased by the phosphorylation of ERK1/2 in diabetic WT mice. In contrast, RasGRF1−/− mice significantly reduced ERK1/2 phosphorylation.