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Bacterial
gut biome may guide colon cancer progression
Bacterial
gut biome may guide colon cancer progression
Date:
April 4,
2014
Source:
The Wistar Institute
Summary:
Gut bacteria can change the microenvironment in a way
that promotes the growth and spread of tumors, research demonstrates. The
results suggest that bacterial virulence proteins may suppress DNA repair
proteins within the epithelial cells that line the colon. "There is a
drastic, unmet need to look at new ways to define exactly how colon cancer
forms in the gut and what triggers its progression into a lethal form,"
said the lead researcher. "We suggest that some bacterial proteins can
promote genetic changes that create conditions in the gut that would favor the
progression of colon cancer."
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Colorectal
cancer develops in what is probably the most complex environment in the human
body, a place where human cells cohabitate with a colony of approximately 10
trillion bacteria, most of which are unknown. At the 2014 American Association
for Cancer Research Annual Meeting in San Diego, researchers from The Wistar
Institute will present findings that suggest the colon "microbiome"
of gut bacteria can change the tumor microenvironment in a way that promotes
the growth and spread of tumors.
Their
results suggest that bacterial virulence proteins may suppress DNA repair
proteins within the epithelial cells that line the colon. The research opens
the possibility of modifying colon cancer risk by altering the population
makeup of bacteria in the intestines of people at risk due to genetics or
environmental exposure.
"There
is a drastic, unmet need to look at new ways to define exactly how colon cancer
forms in the gut and what triggers its progression into a lethal form,"
said Frank Rauscher, III, Ph.D., a professor in The Wistar Institute Cancer
Center. "We suggest that some bacterial proteins can promote genetic
changes that create conditions in the gut that would favor the progression of
colon cancer."
While
colorectal cancer incidence rates have declined, likely due to more widespread
screening, survival rates have not. According to the American Cancer Society,
about 50,000 Americans will die from colorectal cancer this year. "While
our understanding of the gene mutations involved in colon cancer has improved,
this has not lead to the promised increases in overall survival," Rauscher
said.
Intestinal
bacteria typically provide many benefits to their human hosts, aiding in
digestion and crowding out more directly pathogenic bacteria. However, both
"friendly" commensal bacteria and infective, pathogenic bacteria have
been shown to actively reduce inflammation, an important tool used by the human
innate immune system to promote healing and prevent the spread of infection.
In these
studies, Rauscher and his colleagues injected anti-inflammatory proteins
produced by EPEC (Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli) bacteria into colon
epithelial cells. One of these proteins, NLEE, is an enzyme that targets TAB2,
a human scaffolding protein involved in the transduction of chemical signals in
the NF-κB pathway. Targeting TAB2 results in the inactivation of numerous
inflammatory activities in the gut.
Rauscher and
colleagues looked for other human proteins that could be targeted by NLEE.
Remarkably, they found that NLEE also has the capability of shutting off a
protein, ZRANB3 involved in DNA repair. If bacterially infected colon cells can
no longer repair damage to their DNA, mutations will accumulate, which will
promote cancer growth.
In addition,
along with collaborators in the laboratory of Feng Shao, Ph.D., at the National
Institute of Biological Sciences in Beijing, China, they demonstrated that NLEE
proteins attack TAB2 and ZRANB3 by methlylating these proteins -- essentially
adding a single methyl molecule -- which unfolds the target proteins. NLEE
appear to specifically attack a structure on TAB2 and ZRANB3 known as a
"zinc finger," which is a common structural motif used in many other
proteins. When the researchers determined the structure of NLEE, they found a
deep cleft on the protein specific to a certain zinc finger pattern. A survey
of EPEC-infected colon cells showed that this zinc finger pattern was common to
at least three DNA repair enzymes, suggesting that NLEE has the capability of
having widespread influence on mechanisms in the colon that typically prevent
cancer growth.
"Our
results suggest that some infective intestinal bacteria, which normally can
simply cause gastric distress, have the capability of inducing genetic changes
(by limiting repair) in our intestinal cells which could lead to tumor
development," Rauscher explained. "It is possible that limiting the
amount of this bacteria in our gut may protect us from the genetic changes
which accumulate in our intestinal cells over time and lead to cancer
development."
According to
Rauscher, this is a new way to look at the microenvironment in the gut as an
incubator for colon cancer, depending upon which type and species of bacteria
are resident and potentially infectious in our large intestines. Rauscher and
his collaborators are currently embarking on a project to further test their
hypothesis.
Story
Source:
The above
story is based on materials provided by The Wistar Institute. Note: Materials may be
edited for content and length.
Cite This
Page:
The Wistar Institute.
"Bacterial gut biome may guide colon cancer progression."
ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 4 April 2014.
<www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/04/140404140407.htm>.