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Updated: May 24, 2026

Spatial and Temporal Control of Murine Melanoma Initiation from Mutant Melanocyte Stem Cells
Published on: June 7, 2019
Dickkopf-1 inhibits the invasive activity of melanoma cells
1Department of Dermatology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China.
Background:
Malignant melanoma (MM) has the highest morbidity of any malignant tumour. It is known that the Wnt pathway of enhances the development of melanoma. Dickkopf (DKK)-1, an inhibitor of the canonical Wnt/β-catenin pathway, might also inhibit the development of MM.
Aim:
To examine the influence of DKK-1 expression on the invasive activity of MM cells.
Methods:
To detect DKK-1 expression level we performed immunohistochemistry on human tissue sections of normal skin, malignant melanoma (MM) in situ, and MM with lymph-node metastasis. To clarify the role that DDK-1 plays in the invasive activity of MM cells, we performed a scratch-wound healing assay and Transwell invasion assay for A375 cells infected with appropriate recombinant adenoviruses, then assessed the migration of these cells.
Results:
Fewer DDK1-overexpressing A375 cells than control cells migrated to the scratch-wound area or through the pores of the Transwell membrane to the lower wells. Downregulation of DKK-1 in A375 cells had the opposite effect.
Conclusions:
In the present study, we found for the first time that DKK-1 expression inhibits the invasive activity of MM cells.
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