Description
Recombinant full length human DKK1 protein with molecular weight 35 kDa.
Dickkopf-related protein 1 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the DKK1 gene. DKK1 is one of the most upregulated genes in androgen potentiated balding, with DKK-1 messenger RNA upregulated a 3-6 hours after DHT treatment of hair follicles at the dermal papilla in vitro. DKK-1 expression is attenuated by L-threonate in vitro, with the latter a metabolite of ascorbate. DKK-1 gene is transcriptionally silenced by CpG island promoter hypermethylation in colon cancer cell lines, whereas treatment with the DNA-demethylating agent 5-aza-2-deoxycytidine restored DKK-1 expression. In primary colorectal tumors, DKK-1 was found hypermethylated in 17% of cases. Furthermore, while for both secreted frizzled-related proteins (sFRPs) and Wnt inhibitory factor-1 (WIF-1) methylation-associated silencing occurred across the whole spectrum of colorectal tumorigenesis, DKK-1 promoter was selectively hypermethylated in advanced colorectal neoplasms (Duke's C and D tumors)