Treatment involving Dkk-1 or antagonists thereof

A method for detecting the presence or onset of insulin resistance or hypoinsulinemia in a mammal comprising the steps of:

• (a) measuring the amount of Dickkopf-1 (Dkk-1) in a sample from said mammal;
• and
• (b) comparing the amount determined in step (a) to an amount of Dkk-1 present in a standard sample, an increased level in the amount of Dkk-1 in step (a) being indicative of insulin resistance or hypoinsulinemia.

A kit for treating insulin resistance or hypoinsulinemia, said kit comprising:

• (a) a container comprising an antagonist to Dkk-1;
• and
• (b) instructions for using the antagonist to treat insulin resistance or hypoinsulinemia.

A hybridoma selected from the group consisting of ATCC Dep. No. PTA-3084, PTA-3085, PTA-3086, PTA-3087, PTA-3088, PTA-3089, and PTA-3097.

A method of treating obesity or hyperinsulinemia in mammals comprising administering to a mammal in need thereof an effective amount of Dickkopf-1 (Dkk-1).

A method for detecting the presence or onset of obesity or hyperinsulinemia in a mammal comprising the steps of:

• (a) measuring the amount of Dickkopf-1 (Dkk-1) in a sample from said mammal;
• and
• (b) comparing the amount determined in step (a) to an amount of Dkk-1 present in a standard sample, a decreased level in the amount of Dkk-1 in step (a) being indicative of obesity or hyperinsulinemia.

A kit for treating obesity or hyperinsulinemia, said kit comprising:

• (a) a container comprising Dkk-1;
• and
• (b) instructions for using the Dkk-1 to treat obesity or hyperinsulinemia.

A method for repairing or regenerating muscle in a mammal comprising administering to the mammal an effective amount of an antagonist to Dkk-1.

A kit for repairing or regeneration muscle, said kit comprising:

• (a) a container comprising an antagonist to Dkk-1;
• and
• (b) instructions for using the antagonist to repair or regenerate muscle in a mammal.

A monoclonal antibody preparation prepared by hyperimmunizing mice with tagged Dkk-1 diluted in an adjuvant, fusing B-cells from the mice having anti-Dkk-1 antibody titers with mouse myeloma cells and obtaining supernatants, harvesting the supernatants, screening the harvested supernatants for antibody production, injecting positive clones showing the highest immunobinding after a second round of subcloning into primed mice for in vivo production of monoclonal antibodies, pooling ascites fluids from the mice, and purifying the ascites fluid pool to produce the antibody preparation.

A method of evaluating the effect of a candidate pharmaceutical drug on insulin resistance, hypoinsulinemia, or muscle repair comprising administering said drug to a non-human transgenic animal that overexpresses dkk-1 nucleic acid and determining the effect of the drug on glucose clearance from the blood of said animal, on circulating insulin levels in said animal, or on muscle differentiation, respectively.

A method of evaluating the effect of a candidate pharmaceutical drug on obesity or hyperinsulinemia comprising administering said drug to a non-human binary transgenic animal that expresses dkk-1 nucleic acid and determining the effect of the drug on an obesity-determining property or on the level of insulin in said animal.

A non-human transgenic animal that overexpresses dkk-1 nucleic acid.