Dickkopf-4 is frequently overexpressed in epithelial ovarian carcinoma and promotes tumor invasion

Background Dickkopf-4 (DKK4), a member of DKK family, appears to be a divergent protein. It remained multi-biological functions in carcinogenesis. The effect of DKK4 on the ovarian cancer cells remains unclear. This study detected the clinical significance of DKK4 in epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) patients and its role in invasion. Methods QRT-PCR and western blot analysis were used to examine the levels of DKK4 mRNA and protein in 33 EOC tissues and 33 benign ovarian tumors. Immunohistochemical analysis was performed to assess DKK4 expression in 239 EOC samples. siRNA-mediated DKK4 silence was conducted. Transwell assay was used to detect the invasive ability. Phalloidin was used to stain the formations of actin filaments. Results The expressions of DKK4 mRNA and protein were elevated in EOC tissues as compared with those in benign ovarian tumors ( p = 0.001 and <0.0001 respectively). Immunohistochemical results showed the strong expression of DKK4 protein was positively associated with late FIGO stage ( p = 0.005) and poor disease free survival in univariate and multivariate analysis ( p < 0.0001 and p = 0.001, respectively). SiRNA-mediated DKK4 knockdown inhibited cell invasive ability (all p < 0.0001) and the formations of actin filaments. DKK4 could promote the phosphration of c-JUN and JNK ( p < 0.0001 and p = 0.001, respectively). Conclusions Our results indicated that DKK4 might be contributed to predicting EOC progression and prognosis. DKK4 could promote the invasion of EOC through JNK activation.