Harnessing Tissue Engineering Tools to Interrogate Host-Microbiota Crosstalk in Cancer

Investigating the role of the intratumoral microbiome in thyroid cancer development and progression

The intratumoral microbiome (ITM) is in the spotlight due to its possible contribution to the initiation, progression, and invasion of a wide range of cancers. Its precise contribution to cancer tumorigenesis is still elusive, though. Thyroid cancer(TC), the ninth leading cause of cancer globally and the most prevalent endocrine malignancy with a rapidly rising incidence among all cancers, has attracted much attention nowadays. Still, the association between the tumor's microbiome and TC progression and development is an evolving area of investigation with significant consequences for disease understanding and intervention. Therefore, this review offers an appropriate perspective on this emerging concept in TC based on prior studies on the ITM among the most common tumors worldwide, concentrating on TC. Moreover, information on the origin of the ITM and practical methods can pave the way for researchers to opt for the most appropriate method for further investigations on the ITM more accurately.

Fusobacterium nucleatum infection modulates the transcriptome and epigenome of HCT116 colorectal cancer cells in an oxygen-dependent manner

Fusobacterium nucleatum, a gram-negative oral bacterium, has been consistently validated as a strong contributor to the progression of several types of cancer, including colorectal (CRC) and pancreatic cancer. While previous in vitro studies have shown that intracellular F. nucleatum enhances malignant phenotypes such as cell migration, the dependence of this regulation on features of the tumor microenvironment (TME) such as oxygen levels are wholly uncharacterized. Here we examine the influence of hypoxia in facilitating F. nucleatum invasion and its effects on host responses focusing on changes in the global epigenome and transcriptome. Using a multiomic approach, we analyze epigenomic alterations of H3K27ac and global transcriptomic alterations sustained within a hypoxia and normoxia conditioned CRC cell line HCT116 at 24 h following initial infection with F. nucleatum. Our findings reveal that intracellular F. nucleatum activates signaling pathways and biological processes in host cells similar to those induced upon hypoxia conditioning in the absence of infection. Furthermore, we show that a hypoxic TME favors F. nucleatum invasion and persistence and therefore infection under hypoxia may amplify malignant transformation by exacerbating the effects induced by hypoxia alone. These results motivate future studies to investigate host-microbe interactions in tumor tissue relevant conditions that more accurately define parameters for targeted cancer therapies.

Contributions of the Microbiome-Derived Metabolome for Risk Assessment and Prognostication of Pancreatic Cancer

BACKGROUND

Increasing evidence implicates microbiome involvement in the development and progression of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). Studies suggest that reflux of gut or oral microbiota can lead to colonization in the pancreas, resulting in dysbiosis that culminates in release of microbial toxins and metabolites that potentiate an inflammatory response and increase susceptibility to PDAC. Moreover, microbe-derived metabolites can exert direct effector functions on precursors and cancer cells, as well as other cell types, to either promote or attenuate tumor development and modulate treatment response.

CONTENT

The occurrence of microbial metabolites in biofluids thereby enables risk assessment and prognostication of PDAC, as well as having potential for design of interception strategies. In this review, we first highlight the relevance of the microbiome for progression of precancerous lesions in the pancreas and, using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry, provide supporting evidence that microbe-derived metabolites manifest in pancreatic cystic fluid and are associated with malignant progression of intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm(s). We secondly summarize the biomarker potential of microbe-derived metabolite signatures for (a) identifying individuals at high risk of developing or harboring PDAC and (b) predicting response to treatment and disease outcomes.

SUMMARY

The microbiome-derived metabolome holds considerable promise for risk assessment and prognostication of PDAC.

Fusobacterium nucleatum induces proliferation and migration in pancreatic cancer cells through host autocrine and paracrine signaling

The tumor microbiome is increasingly implicated in cancer progression and resistance to chemotherapy. In pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), high intratumoral loads of Fusobacterium nucleatum correlate with shorter survival in patients. Here, we investigated the potential mechanisms underlying this association. We found that F. nucleatum infection induced both normal pancreatic epithelial cells and PDAC cells to secrete increased amounts of the cytokines GM-CSF, CXCL1, IL-8, and MIP-3α. These cytokines increased proliferation, migration, and invasive cell motility in both infected and noninfected PDAC cells but not in noncancerous pancreatic epithelial cells, suggesting autocrine and paracrine signaling to PDAC cells. This phenomenon occurred in response to Fusobacterium infection regardless of the strain and in the absence of immune and other stromal cells. Blocking GM-CSF signaling markedly limited proliferative gains after infection. Thus, F. nucleatum infection in the pancreas elicits cytokine secretion from both normal and cancerous cells that promotes phenotypes in PDAC cells associated with tumor progression. The findings support the importance of exploring host-microbe interactions in pancreatic cancer to guide future therapeutic interventions.

Diet-Induced Host-Microbe Interactions: Personalized Diet Strategies for Improving Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is an idiopathic inflammatory disease. Environmental sanitization, modern lifestyles, advanced medicines, ethnic origins, host genetics and immune systems, mucosal barrier function, and the gut microbiota have been delineated to explain how they cause mucosal inflammation. However, the pathogenesis of IBD and its therapeutic targets remain elusive. Recent studies have highlighted the importance of the human gut microbiota in health and disease, suggesting that the pathogenesis of IBD is highly associated with imbalances of the gut microbiota or alterations of epithelial barrier function in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. Moreover, diet-induced alterations of the gut microbiota in the GI tract modulate immune responses and perturb metabolic homeostasis. This review summarizes recent findings on IBD and its association with diet-induced changes in the gut microbiota; furthermore, it discusses how diets can modulate host gut microbes and immune systems, potentiating the impact of personalized diets on therapeutic targets for IBD.

Stool microRNA profiles reflect different dietary and gut microbiome patterns in healthy individuals

OBJECTIVES

MicroRNA (miRNA) profiles have been evaluated in several biospecimens in relation to common diseases for which diet may have a considerable impact. We aimed at characterising how specific diets are associated with the miRNome in stool of vegans, vegetarians and omnivores and how this is reflected in the gut microbial composition, as this is still poorly explored.

DESIGN

We performed small RNA and shotgun metagenomic sequencing in faecal samples and dietary recording from 120 healthy volunteers, equally distributed for the different diets and matched for sex and age.

RESULTS

We found 49 miRNAs differentially expressed among vegans, vegetarians and omnivores (adj. p <0.05) and confirmed trends of expression levels of such miRNAs in vegans and vegetarians compared with an independent cohort of 45 omnivores. Two miRNAs related to lipid metabolism, miR-636 and miR-4739, were inversely correlated to the non-omnivorous diet duration, independently of subject age. Seventeen miRNAs correlated (|rho|>0.22, adj. p <0.05) with the estimated intake of nutrients, particularly animal proteins, phosphorus and, interestingly, lipids. In omnivores, higher Prevotella and Roseburia and lower Bacteroides abundances than in vegans and vegetarians were observed. Lipid metabolism-related miR-425-3p and miR-638 expression levels were associated with increased abundances of microbial species, such as Roseburia sp. CAG 182 and Akkermansia muciniphila, specific of different diets. An integrated analysis identified 25 miRNAs, 25 taxa and 7 dietary nutrients that clearly discriminated (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve=0.89) the three diets.

CONCLUSION

Stool miRNA profiles are associated with specific diets and support the role of lipids as a driver of epigenetic changes and host-microbial molecular interactions in the gut.

Transcending toward Advanced 3D-Cell Culture Modalities: A Review about an Emerging Paradigm in Translational Oncology

Cancer is a disorder characterized by an uncontrollable overgrowth and a fast-moving spread of cells from a localized tissue to multiple organs of the body, reaching a metastatic state. Throughout years, complexity of cancer progression and invasion, high prevalence and incidence, as well as the high rise in treatment failure cases leading to a poor patient prognosis accounted for continuous experimental investigations on animals and cellular models, mainly with 2D- and 3D-cell culture. Nowadays, these research models are considered a main asset to reflect the physiological events in many cancer types in terms of cellular characteristics and features, replication and metastatic mechanisms, metabolic pathways, biomarkers expression, and chemotherapeutic agent resistance. In practice, based on research perspective and hypothesis, scientists aim to choose the best model to approach their understanding and to prove their hypothesis. Recently, 3D-cell models are seen to be highly incorporated as a crucial tool for reflecting the true cancer cell microenvironment in pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamics studies, in addition to the intensity of anticancer drug response in pharmacogenomics trials. Hence, in this review, we shed light on the unique characteristics of 3D cells favoring its promising usage through a comparative approach with other research models, specifically 2D-cell culture. Plus, we will discuss the importance of 3D models as a direct reflector of the intrinsic cancer cell environment with the newest multiple methods and types available for 3D-cells implementation.