CRISPR Knockout Experiments Reveal MerTK as a Potential Therapeutic Target in Gastric Adenocarcinoma

High levels of MerTK (a tyrosine kinase) expression are associated with poor outcomes in patients with gastric adenocarcinoma.

While MerTK has shown therapeutic relevance in several other cancer types, until recently it had not been thoroughly explored as a target for gastric adenocarcinoma.

Researchers in Germany have now demonstrated that CRISPR-Cas9-mediated knockout of MerTK reduced cell proliferation and migration in vitro and in vivo, and that a small-molecule inhibitor of MerTK (UNC2025) exhibited a significant therapeutic response in vitro and in vivo. In addition, MerTK inhibition sensitised tumour cells to 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU)-based chemotherapy in vitro. Their findings demonstrate the potential MerTK as a novel therapeutic target and a prognostic biomarker in gastric adenocarcinoma.

Read the article in Cancer Medicine here.