Tumor and Stem Cell Biology p21 Induction Is Required to Inhibit Prostate Cancer Growth Elicited by Deficient Expression of the Wnt Inhibitor Dickkopf-1

Osteoblastic bone metastases are the most common metastases produced by human prostate cancers (PCa). Deregulated activity of Wnt growth factors resulting from overexpression of the Wnt inhibitor Dickkopf-1 (DKK-1) is known to contribute to formation of the osteoblastic component of PCa skeletal bone metastases. In this study, we report that DKK-1 knockdown in osteolytic human PCa cells unexpectedly delays the development of both soft tissue and osseous lesions. PCa cells deficient in DKK-1 expression did not increase canonical Wnt signaling in target osteoblast cell lines; however, DKK-1 knockdown PCa cells exhibited increased expression of the CDK inhibitor p21 and a 32% increase in G1 arrest compared with control cells. Ablating p21 in PCa cells deficient in DKK-1 was sufficient to rescue tumor growth. Collectively, our findings demonstrate that DKK-1 overexpression supports tumor growth in part by restricting expression of p21 through a mechanism independent of canonical Wnt signaling. Cancer Res; 70(23); 9916–26. 2010 AACR.