Wnt inhibitory factor 1 induces apoptosis and inhibits cervical cancer growth, invasion and angiogenesis in vivo

Published Oct 18, 2011Oncogene

Wnt inhibitory factor 1 may cause cancer cell death and reduce cervical cancer growth, spread, and new blood vessel formation in living models

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Abstract

WIF1, a Wnt antagonist, is downregulated in all analyzed human primary cervical tumors and cell lines.

WIF1 downregulation is linked to promoter hypermethylation and occurs early in cervical cancer development.
Re-expressing WIF1 through treatment leads to significant cell death and halts cell division in vitro.
In mouse models, WIF1 gene transfer significantly slows tumor growth and invasion.
WIF1 treatment results in decreased levels of WNT1 and TCF-4 proteins, revealing new regulatory mechanisms.
WIF1 alters the distribution of β-catenin and inhibits the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway, affecting key cancer-related genes.
WIF1 affects both pro-apoptotic and anti-apoptotic protein levels, promoting significant cell death in vivo.

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Aberrant activation of Wingless-type (Wnt)/β-catenin signaling is widespread in human cervical cancer. However, the underlying mechanisms of Wnt activation and the therapeutic potential of Wnt inhibition remain largely unknown. Here, we demonstrate that the Wnt inhibitory factor 1 (WIF1), a secreted Wnt antagonist, is downregulated in all human primary cervical tumors and cell lines analyzed. Our data reveal that WIF1 downregulation occurs due to promoter hypermethylation and is an early event in cervical oncogenesis. WIF1 re-expression upon 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine treatment or WIF1 gene transfer induces significant apoptosis and G(2)/M arrest, and inhibits cervical cancer cell proliferation in vitro. Consistent with this, treatment of established mice tumor xenografts with peritumoral WIF1 gene transfer results in a significant inhibition of cancer growth and invasion. WIF1 treatment causes a significant decrease in intracellular WNT1 and TCF-4 proteins revealing novel Wnt-regulatory mechanisms. Thus, WIF1 causes a major cellular re-distribution of β-catenin and a significant inhibition of the Wnt/β-catenin pathway in tumor cells, as documented by a remarkable reversion in the expression of Wnt/β-catenin transcriptional target genes (E-cadherin, c-Myc, cyclin D1, CD44 and VEGF). Consequently, multiple critical events in tumor progression and metastasis such as cell proliferation, angiogenesis and invasion were inhibited by WIF1. In addition, WIF1 modulated the expression of specific anti-apoptotic and apoptotic proteins, thereby inducing significant apoptosis in vivo. Our findings demonstrate for the first time that WIF1 downregulation by epigenetic gene silencing is an important mechanism of Wnt activation in cervical oncogenesis. Of major clinical relevance, we show that peritumoral WIF1 gene transfer reduces not only cancer growth but also invasion in well-established tumors. Therefore, our data provide novel mechanistic insights into the role of WIF1 in cervical cancer progression, and the important preclinical validation of WIF1 as a potent drug target in cervical cancer treatment.

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Wnt inhibitory factor 1 induces apoptosis and inhibits cervical cancer growth, invasion and angiogenesis in vivo

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