Short-term RANKL exposure initiates a neoplastic transcriptional program in the basal epithelium of the murine salivary gland.

ABSTRACT: Although salivary gland cancers comprise only ∼3-6% of head and neck cancers, treatment options for patients with advanced-stage disease are limited. Because of their rarity, salivary gland malignancies are understudied compared to other exocrine tissue cancers. The comparative lack of progress in this cancer field is particularly evident when it comes to our incomplete understanding of the key molecular signals that are causal for the development and/or progression of salivary gland cancers. Using a novel conditional transgenic mouse (K5:RANKL), we demonstrate that Receptor Activator of NFkB Ligand (RANKL) targeted to cytokeratin 5-positive basal epithelial cells of the salivary gland causes aggressive tumorigenesis within a short period of RANKL exposure. Genome-wide transcriptomic analy

SUBMITTER: Hai L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7443928 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature