Restoration of LKB1 tumor suppressor gene causes apoptosis in cancer cells.

2003 NOV 17 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Restoration of LKB1 tumor suppressor gene causes apoptosis in cancer cells.

According to a study from the United States, "germ line mutations of the LKB1 tumor suppressor gene lead to Peutz-Jeghers syndrome (PJS) with a predisposition to cancer. Previous reports suggest that inactivation of this tumor-suppressor gene plays a role in the pathogenesis of gastrointestinal hamartomas as well as several cancers, including adenocarcinoma of the pancreas. Here, we have shown that LKB1 gene is silenced in the pancreatic cancer cell line AsPC-1, but can be recovered by treatment with the methylation inhibitor, 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine …