In vivo modelling of tumour suppressor gene function

Abstract

LKB1 has been implicated in a wide range of cellular functions and is associated with many potential substrates in in vitro studies, however the in vivo role of LKB1 remains unclear and its precise contribution to the prevention of intestinal tumours in the hereditary Peutz-Jegers syndrome is as yet uncharacterised. Conditional deletion of LKB1 in the murine small intestine resulted in significant disruption of intestinal homeostasis, particularly that of the differentiation process, suggesting LKB1 plays a key role in intestinal differentiation and it is loss of this function that predisposes to tumourigenesi