Collateral Lethality in Pancreatic Cancer.
The chromosome 18q21 deletion in nearly one third of pancreatic adenocarcinomas eliminates not only the tumor suppressorSMAD4, but also neighboring genes with important cellular roles, such asME2This is tolerated by cancer cells only becauseME2has a functionally redundant paralog,ME3, elsewhere in the genome. A study shows that these cells are vulnerable toME3silencing; this concept of collateral lethality could provide a new therapeutic strategy for a difficult-to-treat disease.
D002872:Chromosome Deletion; D025063:Chromosome Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000235:genetics / Q000401:mortality*; D002887:Chromosomes, Human, Pair 18 / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D008291:Malate Dehydrogenase / Q000235:genetics*; D009154:Mutation; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology; D051901:Smad4 Protein / Q000235:genetics*
D051901:Smad4 Protein; D008291:Malate Dehydrogenase; C495394:malic enzyme 2; human