Whole exome sequencing of gastric antral tumors from GAS-KO and WT mice

The antral niche cell-derived hormone, gastrin, plays a key role in maintaining gastric stem cell quiescence and asymmetric cell division. Gastric tumorigenesis is associated with increased symmetric stem cell division in gastric antrum that facilitates mutation accumulation. We hypothesized that the complete absence of gastrin, by augmenting symmetric division and enabling expansion of precursor cell population, might enable these cells to acquire additional mutations following carcinogen exposure. Therefore, we analyzed the density of exome mutations in MNU-induced antral gastric tumors from gastrin-deficient (GAS-KO) and WT mice.