Secreted frizzled-related protein (SFRP) genes, new tumor suppressor genes, are negative regulators of the Wnt pathway whose alteration is associated with various tumors.
Using a genome-wide approach, we identified the secreted frizzled-related protein 1, 2 and 3 (SFRP1, SFRP2 and SFRP3) family of WNT inhibitors as putative tumor suppressor genes silenced by promoter region methylation in MB.
Hybridization experiments of a cDNA microarray containing paired normal and tumor specimens from nineteen different organs did not show any significant difference in the level of Frzb/sFRP3 mRNA expression between the normal and the corresponding tumor tissues.
These results indicate that the hsFRP gene probably functions as a tumor suppressor in normal cervical epithelium and down-regulation of hsFRP contributes to development of cervical cancer.