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Expression of the Wnt antagonist Dickkopf-3 is associated with prognostic clinicopathologic characteristics and impairs proliferation and invasion in endometrial cancer.

ABSTRACT: OBJECTIVE:Emerging evidence implicates the Wnt antagonist Dickkopf-3 (Dkk3) as a tumor suppressor and potential biomarker in solid tumors. We investigated whether Dkk3 plays an important role in the carcinogenesis of endometrial cancer (EC). METHODS:We analyzed Dkk3 mRNA expression via real-time RT-PCR in twenty-seven human primary EC tissues, and six matched normal endometrial controls. Dkk3 levels were correlated with various clinicopathologic characteristics. Additionally, enforced Dkk3 expression was examined in proliferation and tumorigenesis in vitro and in vivo, using MTT, soft agar assay, invasion assay, a xenograft mouse model, and a ?-catenin-responsive SuperTopFlash luciferase assay. RESULTS:Compared with matched normal endometrial cases, Dkk3 was down-regulated in EC (p<0.0001). Among cancer cases, Dkk3 expression was significantly reduced in patients with higher stage (p=0.002), positive pelvic lymph nodes (p=0.0004), non-endometrioid histology (p=0.02), and cytology-positive ECs (p=0.02). Enforced expression of Dkk3 in EC cell lines showed reduced proliferation (p<0.0001), anchorage-independent growth (p=0.005), invasion (p=0.02), and reduced TCF activity (p=0.04), confirming Dkk3 as a negative regulator of the ?-catenin/Wnt signaling pathway. Tumor growth in Dkk3-injected mice was not statistically different, though did plateau towards the end, and was associated with increased lymphoid infiltration and tumor necrosis. CONCLUSION:Dkk3 gene expression is frequently downregulated in endometrial cancer, and is associated with poor prognostic clinicopathologic markers. The results also identify a role for Dkk3 as a tumor suppressor in EC, affecting both proliferation and invasiveness. These findings may prove to be important in the design of novel biomarkers and treatment modalities for advanced EC.

SUBMITTER: Dellinger TH

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3688285 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Expression of the Wnt antagonist Dickkopf-3 is associated with prognostic clinicopathologic characteristics and impairs proliferation and invasion in endometrial cancer.

Dellinger Thanh H TH Planutis Kestutis K Jandial Danielle D DD Eskander Ramez N RN Martinez Micaela E ME Zi Xiaolin X Monk Bradley J BJ Holcombe Randall F RF

Gynecologic oncology 20120430 2

<h4>Objective</h4>Emerging evidence implicates the Wnt antagonist Dickkopf-3 (Dkk3) as a tumor suppressor and potential biomarker in solid tumors. We investigated whether Dkk3 plays an important role in the carcinogenesis of endometrial cancer (EC).<h4>Methods</h4>We analyzed Dkk3 mRNA expression via real-time RT-PCR in twenty-seven human primary EC tissues, and six matched normal endometrial controls. Dkk3 levels were correlated with various clinicopathologic characteristics. Additionally, enfo ...[more]

PMID: 22555103

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Project description:Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a highly lethal disease characterized by late diagnosis and treatment resistance. Recurrent genetic alterations in defined genes in association with perturbations of developmental cell signaling pathways have been associated with PDAC development and progression. Here, we show that GATA6 contributes to pancreatic carcinogenesis during the temporal progression of pancreatic intraepithelial neoplasia by virtue of Wnt pathway activation. GATA6 is recurrently amplified by both quantitative-PCR and fluorescent in-situ hybridization in human pancreatic intraepithelial neoplasia and in PDAC tissues, and GATA6 copy number is significantly correlated with overall patient survival. Forced overexpression of GATA6 in cancer cell lines enhanced cell proliferation and colony formation in soft agar in vitro and growth in vivo, as well as increased Wnt signaling. By contrast siRNA mediated knockdown of GATA6 led to corresponding decreases in these same parameters. The effects of GATA6 were found to be due to its ability to bind DNA, as forced overexpression of a DNA-binding mutant of GATA6 had no effects on cell growth in vitro or in vivo, nor did they affect Wnt signaling levels in these same cells. A microarray analysis revealed the Wnt antagonist Dickopf-1 (DKK1) as a dysregulated gene in association with GATA6 knockdown, and direct binding of GATA6 to the DKK1 promoter was confirmed by chromatin immunoprecipitation and electrophoretic mobility shift assays. Transient transfection of GATA6, but not mutant GATA6, into cancer cell lines led to decreased DKK1 mRNA expression and secretion of DKK1 protein into culture media. Forced overexpression of DKK1 antagonized the effects of GATA6 on Wnt signaling in pancreatic cancer cells. These findings illustrate that one mechanism by which GATA6 promotes pancreatic intraepithelial neoplasia is by virtue of its activation of canonical Wnt signaling via regulation of DKK1. AsPC1 and A13A cells were stably transfected with a lentivirus expressing mock shRNA or shRNA to GATA6. Each control/shRNA pair (total 4 samples) was analyzed by two-color microarray and the genes commonly dysregulated in both cell lines identified.

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Expression of the Wnt antagonist Dickkopf-3 is associated with prognostic clinicopathologic characteristics and impairs proliferation and invasion in endometrial cancer.

Publications

Expression of the Wnt antagonist Dickkopf-3 is associated with prognostic clinicopathologic characteristics and impairs proliferation and invasion in endometrial cancer.

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