CLONING AND DEVELOPMENTAL REGULATION OF TISSUE INHIBITOR OF METALLOPROTEINASES-3 (TIMP3) IN XENOPUS-LAEVIS EARLY EMBRYOS

We cloned a cDNA encoding tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases-3 (TI MP3) from the frog Xenopus laevis. Similar to TIMP3 from other species , Xenopus TIMP3 has 188 residues including 12 conserved cysteines and Asn(184), a putative site for N-linked sugars. Xenopus TIMP3 is 84% id entical with human TIMP3. As shown by Northern blotting and RT-PCR, Xe nopus TIMP3 mRNA is maternally inherited in eggs and midblastula (stag e 8) embryos, downregulated in gastrula and then upregulated in neurul a and pretailbud embryos. In select adult tissues, TIMP3 mRNA is prese nt in heart, muscle, liver, skin, intestine and ovaries. These results suggest that TIMP3 is involved in the regulation of expression of mat rix metalloproteinases in Xenopus early development and adult tissue r emodeling. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.