Our results indicate that WISP1 present within the tumor microenvironment stimulates melanoma invasion and metastasis by promoting an EMT-like process.
Metastasis assays revealed that <i>WISP1</i> knockout represses tumor metastasis of B16F10 and YUMM1.7 melanoma cells in both C57BL/6Ncrl and NOD-scid IL2Rγ<sup>null</sup> (NSG) mice.
<b>Background</b>: WNT1-Inducible Signaling Pathway Protein 1 (WISP1) is implicated in prostate cancer growth and metastasis and the regulation of inflammation in diverse benign diseases.
We also identified Wnt-induced secreted protein-1 (WISP-1) as a key downstream secretory mediator of Notch1 signaling to execute the influential role of MSC-DF on melanoma metastasis.
WISP-1 transcripts were found in lower levels in node-positive tumors compared with node-negative tumors (P < .05); were lower in patients with a moderate (P = .01) and poor Nottingham Prognostic Index prognosis (P < .05) compared with good prognostic groups; were of significantly lower level in grade 3 differentiated tumors (P < .05) compared with grade 1; and were of lower levels in patients who developed metastasis and died from breast cancer-related causes (P < .05 in both comparisons).