Cell Cycle Control in Pancreatic Cancer Pathogenesis

Abstract

All multicellular organisms arise from the division of a single cell. Thus, to generate a complex living organism, these cell divisions must be performed with extremely high fidelity and reproducibility during the development of the organism. Furthermore, in the mature, or adult, organism, tissue and organismal homeostasis must be maintained, and this requires the coordination of cell division with cell growth and cell death. These needs have led to the evolution of a cell replication process, known as the cell division cycle, that is highly conserved among all eukaryotes from simple single cellular organisms such as budding yeast to complex mammals such as humans.