MMP9 and cancer: In addition, expression of genes involved in epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT: SNAI1, encoding Snail and VIM encoding Vimentin) were significantly increased after 48 h of IL-6 stimulation, as were genes involved in extracellular matrix remodeling (matrix metalloproteinases MMP2, MMP9) and the cancer marker EPCAM[33] (Fig. 1F).