Since the identification of the first matrix metalloprotease (insterstitial collagenase or MMP-1) more than 20 closely related and evolutionarily conserved vertebrate MMPs have been discovered. Chapters in this volume detail methods and protocols on recent advances in the expression and purification of MMPs, biophysical methods such as X-ray crystallography, NMR spectroscopy and small angle X-ray scattering, computational and experimental methods...