Pancreatic cancer is a lethal disease with limited treatment options for cure. A high degree of intrinsic and acquired therapeutic resistance may result from cellular alterations in genes and proteins involved in drug transportation and metabolism, or from the influences of cancer microenvironment. Mechanistic basis for therapeutic resistance remains unclear and should profoundly impact our ability to understand pancreatic cancer pathogenesis and its effective clinical management. Recent evidences have indicated the importance of epigenetic changes in pancreatic cancer, including posttranslational modifications of proteins. We will review new knowledge on protein arginine methylation and its consequential contribution to therapeutic resistance of pancreatic cancer, underlying molecular mechanism, and clinical application of potential strategies of its reversal.

胰腺癌是一种致命疾病，治愈的治疗选择有限。高度的内在和获得性治疗耐药性可能是由于参与药物运输和代谢的基因和蛋白质的细胞改变，或癌症微环境的影响。治疗耐药性的机制基础仍不清楚，应该会深刻影响我们了解胰腺癌发病机制及其有效临床管理的能力。最近的证据表明表观遗传变化在胰腺癌中的重要性，包括蛋白质的翻译后修饰。我们将回顾关于蛋白质精氨酸甲基化的新知识及其对胰腺癌治疗耐药性的相应贡献、潜在的分子机制、