Molecular cloning of mouse tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases-3 and its promoter. Specific lack of expression in neoplastic JB6 cells may reflect altered gene methylation.

Mouse tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases-3 (mTIMP-3), a gene specifically not expressed in neoplastic JB6 cells, have been isolated recently through the use of the mRNA differential display technique (Sun, Y., Hegamyer, G., and Colburn, N. H. (1994) Cancer Res. 54, 1139-1144). We report here the full-length mTIMP-3 cDNA sequence, the promoter sequence and partial characterization, expression and induction of TIMP-3, and the possible molecular basis for the lack of mTIMP-3 expression in neoplastic JB6 cells. There are three transcripts arising from alternative polyadenylation of mouse TIMP-3 gene, having sizes of 4.6, 2.8, and 2.3 kilobase pairs, respectively. All three TIMP-3 transcripts are expressed in preneoplastic but not neoplastic JB6 cells. Computer analysis of cloned TIMP-3 promoter revealed six AP-1 binding sites, two NF-KB sites, a c-Myc site, and two copies of a p53 binding motif separated by eight base pairs with two mismatches at the second motif, along with many other cis elements. TIMP-3 gene expression was inducible by AP-1 and NF-KB activators, 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate, and tumor necrosis factor-alpha only in preneoplastic cells with an induction peak at 2 h post-treatment, suggesting classification of mTIMP-3 as a member of the immediate early gene family. Southern blot, mutational analysis, and transient transcriptional activation experiments revealed that the lack of expression of mTIMP-3 in neoplastic JB6 cells was due neither to gross deletion nor to promoter mutation of the gene, nor was there a lack of transcription factors required for transcriptional activation. Instead, the lack of TIMP-3 expression in neoplastic JB6 cells may reflect an abnormal methylation of the gene. Both hyper- and hypomethylation of the mTIMP-3 gene are associated with complete down-regulation of gene expression in neoplastic JB6 cell lines. Treatment of neoplastic cells with the methylase inhibitor 5-azacytidine caused reexpression of the mTIMP-3 gene in a tumor cell line that showed hypermethylation but not in another that showed hypomethylation of the gene, suggesting a complex role for methylation in the silencing of gene expression.