title: Expression pattern of Dkk-3, a secreted Wnt pathway inhibitor, in mouse intestinal tissue and three-dimensional cultured Caco-2 spheroids.
abstract: We investigated the expression pattern of Dkk-3, a secreted Wnt pathway inhibitor, in mouse intestinal tissue and three-dimensional cultured Caco-2 spheroids. Dkk-3 was expressed at the bottom of crypts from the mouse small intestine. Human colon adenocarcinoma Caco-2 cells expressed Dkk-3 under a semi-confluent condition, but Dkk-3 expression was seen in only some of the Caco-2 cells when the cells were sparse. Caco-2 cells formed hollow spheroids in Matrigel, and the layer-forming cells in the hollow spheroids expressed Dkk-3. Our results demonstrated that Dkk-3 might affect intestinal cells when the fate of stem cells changes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Life Science, Faculty of Science, Okayama University of Science, Okayama, Japan.
authors.forename: Ken
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kataoka
authors.affiliation: Department of Life Science, Faculty of Science, Okayama University of Science, Okayama, Japan.
authors.forename: Yuji
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Rikitake
authors.affiliation: Department of Life Science, Faculty of Science, Okayama University of Science, Okayama, Japan.
authors.forename: Yuki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ayabe
keywords: Caco-2 cells; Dkk-3; intestinal tissue