Rat N-ERC/mesothelin as a marker for in vivo screening of drugs against pancreas cancer.

Autor: Katsumi Fukamachi, Masaaki Iigo, Yoshiaki Hagiwara, Koji Shibata, Mitsuru Futakuchi, David B Alexander, Okio Hino, Masumi Suzui, Hiroyuki Tsuda
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2014
Předmět:
Zdroj: PLoS ONE, Vol 9, Iss 10, p e111481 (2014)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 1932-6203
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0111481
Popis: Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDA) is a highly lethal disease, which is usually diagnosed in an advanced stage. We have established transgenic rats carrying a mutated K-ras gene controlled by Cre/loxP activation. The animals develop PDA which is histopathologically similar to that in humans. Previously, we reported that serum levels of N-ERC/mesothelin were significantly higher in rats bearing PDA than in controls. In the present study, to determine whether serum levels of N-ERC/mesothelin correlated with tumor size, we measured N-ERC/mesothelin levels in rats bearing PDA. Increased serum levels of N-ERC/mesothelin correlated with increased tumor size. This result indicates an interrelationship between the serum level of N-ERC/mesothelin and tumor size. We next investigated the effect of chemotherapy on serum N-ERC/mesothelin levels. Rat pancreatic cancer cells were implanted subcutaneously into the flank of NOD-SCID mice. In the mice treated with 200 mg/kg gemcitabine, tumor weight and the serum level of N-ERC/mesothelin were significantly decreased compared to controls. These results suggest that serum N-ERC/mesothelin measurements might be useful for monitoring response to therapy.
Databáze: Directory of Open Access Journals