Tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-1 promotes hematopoietic differentiation via caspase-3 upstream the MEKK1/MEK6/p38alpha pathway.

Besides its matrix metalloproteinases inhibitory activity, TIMP-1 exhibits other biological activities such as cell survival and proliferation. The intracellular signalling pathway elicited by TIMP-1 begins to be elucidated. We have shown previously that the caspase-3 and the p38alpha MAP kinase were activated during TIMP-1-induced UT-7 cells erythroid differentiation. In this study, we demonstrated that TIMP-1 differentiating effect can be extended to the IL-3-dependent myeloid murine 32D cell line and human erythroid progenitors derived from cord blood CD34(+) cells. By performing small interfering RNA transfection and using chemical inhibitors, we evidenced that caspase-3 was involved in TIMP-1 differentiating effect. We then identified the MEKK1 kinase as a caspase-3 substrate and demonstrated that the MEKK1/MEK6/p38alpha pathway was activated downstream the caspase-3 in TIMP-1-induced hematopoietic differentiation.