DKK-3 and WIF-1: Proteins related to liver cancer development?

Wnt signal transduction pathway was significantly related to human neoplastic transformation. The Wnt-antagonist genes function as tumor suppressors and contribute to the pathogenesis of several human malignancies. Such as the promoter-hypermethylation and reduced expression of the DKK-3 gene was found in bladder cancer, lung cancer cell lines and tissues, the WIF-1 gene was found in lung cancer cell lines and tissues, malignant pleural mesothelioma cell lines and tissues, and nasopharyngeal cancer cell lines, also.

A research article to be published in the World Journal of Gastroenterology addresses this question. The study suggested the proteins transcripted by DKK-3 and WIF-1 can act as cancer-associated proteins relate with liver cancer development, but it isn't the same mechanism with hepatitis B (HBV) infection reducing the liver cancer development. The author identified that the silence of DKK-3 and WIF-1 gene resulted from the hypermethylation of its promoter maybe one of carcinogenic factors related to age and apart from HBV infection and the expression of DKK-3 is negatively related to the stage of tumor and cell proliferation. All of this suggested DKK-3 and WIF-1 have great potential to be identified as cancer-associated proteins in the liver cancer development. It may be provide a reliable way to improve liver cancer early diagnosis and new therapies by blocking this pathway to treatment of liver cancer through further study.

Source: World Journal of Gastroenterology (news : web)