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Raf-1 Antagonizes Erythroid Differentiation by Restraining Caspase Activation
The Raf kinases are key signal transducers activated by mitogens or oncogenes. The best studied Raf isoform, Raf-1, was identified as an inhibitor of apoptosis by conventional and conditional gene ablation in mice. c-raf-1 (−) (/) (−) embryos are growth retarded and anemic, and die at midgestation w...
Autores principales: | , , , , , , |
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Formato: | Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
The Rockefeller University Press
2002
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2193984/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12438425 http://dx.doi.org/10.1084/jem.20020562 |
Sumario: | The Raf kinases are key signal transducers activated by mitogens or oncogenes. The best studied Raf isoform, Raf-1, was identified as an inhibitor of apoptosis by conventional and conditional gene ablation in mice. c-raf-1 (−) (/) (−) embryos are growth retarded and anemic, and die at midgestation with anomalies in the placenta and fetal liver. Here, we show that Raf-1–deficient primary erythroblasts cannot be expanded in culture due to their accelerated differentiation into mature erythrocytes. In addition, Raf-1 expression is down-regulated in differentiating wild-type cells, whereas overexpression of activated Raf-1 delays differentiation. As recently described for human erythroid precursors, we find that caspase activation is necessary for the differentiation of murine fetal liver erythroblasts. Differentiation-associated caspase activation is accelerated in erythroid progenitors lacking Raf-1 and delayed by overexpression of the activated kinase. These results reveal an essential function of Raf-1 in erythropoiesis and demonstrate that the ability of Raf-1 to restrict caspase activation is biologically relevant in a context distinct from apoptosis. |
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