Froeling, F., Tuveson, D. (May 2018) Pancreatic cancer foiled by a switch of tumour subtype. Nature, 557 (7706). pp. 500-501. ISSN 0028-0836
Abstract
Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is one of the most deadly cancers in Western society1 because it tends to be diagnosed late and responds poorly to therapy. PDAC tumours fall into two main groups2–4: a ‘classical’ subtype, and a more aggressive ‘squamous’ subtype in which pancreatic cells fail to undergo proper differentiation. The squamous subtype often involves mutations in members of the COMPASS-like complex — a group of methyltransferase and demethylase enzymes that, respectively, add or remove methyl groups from lysine amino-acid residues on histone proteins, around which DNA is packaged. Such histone modification can lead to changes in the expression of histone-associated genes involved in pancreatic-cell differentiation. Writing in Cancer Cell, Andricovich et al.5 demonstrate the role of mutations in one member of this complex, KDM6A, in driving the squamous PDAC subtype.
Actions (login required)
 |
Administrator's edit/view item |