New Tool Helps Identify Pancreatic Cancer Genes

Researchers have identified a new tool that can help spot genetic links to pancreatic cancer in mice.
The new technique works by introducing sections of DNA known as piggBac transposons into the mouse genome. These DNA sections jump around within the genome and reinsert themselves at random, which may result in a mutation of each mouse cell.

Though genome sequencing can help identify genetic alterations in certain categories, some chances remain difficult to interpret.

PiggyBac screening can help to facilitate the search for certain genes related to the health issue. In addition, the tool can help monitor tumor development in mice.

"Recent advances in cancer genome sequencing have given extraordinary insights into the genetic events underlying cancer. Nevertheless, we are still far from understanding the complexity of the molecular processes driving cancer development," said Professor Roland Rad, from the Technische Universität München and the German Cancer Research Center, in a news release. "Unbiased genome-wide screening in mice allows us to see cancer from a different angle and answer biological questions that cannot be addressed with other approaches."

Using the new device, researchers identified previously unknown genes involved in pancreatic cancer, including Foxp1, which was hit by transposons at very high frequencies in the 49 mouse tumours studied.
They discovered that when Foxp1 was induced, tumors spread from the pancreas to other organs-suggesting signs of metastasization. 

Similar to humans, mice developed various subtypes of pancreatic cancer with distinctive microscopic appearances but also with different clinical behaviors.

In the future, researchers hope to more closely examine how pancreatic cancer genes have been discovered in the hopes of finding effective drugs for a disease that's set to be the second leading cause of cancer death by 2030.

More information regarding the findings can be seen via the journal Nature Genetics.