Cell and Developmental Biology Commons^™

The Loss Of Atrx Increases Susceptibility To Pancreatic Injury And Oncogenic Kras In Female But Not Male Mice, Claire C. Young, Ryan M. Baker, Christopher J. Howlett, Todd Hryciw, Joshua E. Herman, Douglas Higgs, Richard Gibbons, Howard Crawford, Arthur Brown, Christopher L. Pin

Anatomy and Cell Biology Publications

Female mice lacking ATRX in the pancreas have increased sensitivity to pancreatic cancer, whereas male mice without ATRX are protected. This study identifies such susceptibility in pancreatic cancer and highlights the need for sex-specific approaches in cancer treatment. BACKGROUND: Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is the third leading cause of cancer death in North America, accounting for >30,000 deaths annually. Although somatic activating mutations in KRAS appear in 97% of PDAC patients, additional factors are required to initiate PDAC. Because mutations in genes encoding chromatin remodelling proteins have been implicated in KRAS-mediated PDAC, we investigated whether loss of chromatin remodeler.-thalassemia, mental-retardation, …