1
|
Rayan M, Sayed TS, Hussein OJ, Therachiyil L, Maayah ZH, Maccalli C, Uddin S, Prehn JHM, Korashy HM. Unlocking the secrets: exploring the influence of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor and microbiome on cancer development. Cell Mol Biol Lett 2024; 29:33. [PMID: 38448800 PMCID: PMC10918910 DOI: 10.1186/s11658-024-00538-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/11/2023] [Accepted: 01/17/2024] [Indexed: 03/08/2024] Open
Abstract
Gut microbiota regulates various aspects of human physiology by producing metabolites, metabolizing enzymes, and toxins. Many studies have linked microbiota with human health and altered microbiome configurations with the occurrence of several diseases, including cancer. Accumulating evidence suggests that the microbiome can influence the initiation and progression of several cancers. Moreover, some microbiotas of the gut and oral cavity have been reported to infect tumors, initiate metastasis, and promote the spread of cancer to distant organs, thereby influencing the clinical outcome of cancer patients. The gut microbiome has recently been reported to interact with environmental factors such as diet and exposure to environmental toxicants. Exposure to environmental pollutants such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) induces a shift in the gut microbiome metabolic pathways, favoring a proinflammatory microenvironment. In addition, other studies have also correlated cancer incidence with exposure to PAHs. PAHs are known to induce organ carcinogenesis through activating a ligand-activated transcriptional factor termed the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR), which metabolizes PAHs to highly reactive carcinogenic intermediates. However, the crosstalk between AhR and the microbiome in mediating carcinogenesis is poorly reviewed. This review aims to discuss the role of exposure to environmental pollutants and activation of AhR on microbiome-associated cancer progression and explore the underlying molecular mechanisms involved in cancer development.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Menatallah Rayan
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, QU Health, Qatar University, P. O. Box 2713, Doha, Qatar
- Department of Physiology and Medical Physics, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin 2, Ireland
| | - Tahseen S Sayed
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, QU Health, Qatar University, P. O. Box 2713, Doha, Qatar
| | - Ola J Hussein
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, QU Health, Qatar University, P. O. Box 2713, Doha, Qatar
| | - Lubna Therachiyil
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, QU Health, Qatar University, P. O. Box 2713, Doha, Qatar
- Translational Research Institute, Academic Health System, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar
| | - Zaid H Maayah
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, QU Health, Qatar University, P. O. Box 2713, Doha, Qatar
| | | | - Shahab Uddin
- Translational Research Institute, Academic Health System, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar
- Dermatology Institute, Academic Health System, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar
| | - Jochen H M Prehn
- Department of Physiology and Medical Physics, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin 2, Ireland
- RCSI Centre for Systems Medicine, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin 2, Ireland
| | - Hesham M Korashy
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, QU Health, Qatar University, P. O. Box 2713, Doha, Qatar.
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Uzelac M, Xin R, Chen T, John D, Li WT, Rajasekaran M, Ongkeko WM. Urinary Microbiome Dysbiosis and Immune Dysregulations as Potential Diagnostic Indicators of Bladder Cancer. Cancers (Basel) 2024; 16:394. [PMID: 38254883 PMCID: PMC10814989 DOI: 10.3390/cancers16020394] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/03/2023] [Revised: 01/11/2024] [Accepted: 01/16/2024] [Indexed: 01/24/2024] Open
Abstract
There are a total of 82,290 new cases and 16,710 deaths estimated for bladder cancer in the United States in 2023. Currently, urine cytology tests are widely used for bladder cancer diagnosis, though they suffer from variable sensitivity, ranging from 45 to 97%. More recently, the microbiome has become increasingly recognized for its role in human diseases, including cancers. This study attempts to characterize urinary microbiome bladder cancer-specific dysbiosis to explore its diagnostic potential. RNA-sequencing data of urine samples from patients with bladder cancer (n = 18) and matched controls (n = 12) were mapped to bacterial sequences to yield species-level abundance approximations. Urine samples were analyzed at both the population and species level to reveal dysbiosis associated with bladder cancer. A panel of 35 differentially abundant species was discovered, which may be useful as urinary biomarkers for this disease. We further assessed whether these species were of similar significance in a validation dataset (n = 81), revealing that the genera Escherichia, Acinetobacter, and Enterobacter were consistently differentially abundant. We discovered distinct patterns of microbial-associated immune modulation in these samples. Several immune pathways were found to be significantly enriched with respect to the abundance of these species, including antigen processing and presentation, cytosolic DNA sensing, and leukocyte transendothelial migration. Differential cytokine activity was similarly observed, suggesting the urinary microbiome's correlation to immune modulation. The adherens junction and WNT signaling pathways, both implicated in the development and progression of bladder cancer, were also enriched with these species. Our findings indicate that the urinary microbiome may reflect both microbial and immune dysregulations of the tumor microenvironment in bladder cancer. Given the potential biomarker species identified, the urinary microbiome may provide a non-invasive, more sensitive, and more specific diagnostic tool, allowing for the earlier diagnosis of patients with bladder cancer.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Matthew Uzelac
- Department of Surgery, Division of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA; (M.U.); (R.X.); (T.C.); (D.J.); (W.T.L.)
- Research Service, VA San Diego Healthcare System, San Diego, CA 92161, USA
| | - Ruomin Xin
- Department of Surgery, Division of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA; (M.U.); (R.X.); (T.C.); (D.J.); (W.T.L.)
- Research Service, VA San Diego Healthcare System, San Diego, CA 92161, USA
| | - Tianyi Chen
- Department of Surgery, Division of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA; (M.U.); (R.X.); (T.C.); (D.J.); (W.T.L.)
- Research Service, VA San Diego Healthcare System, San Diego, CA 92161, USA
| | - Daniel John
- Department of Surgery, Division of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA; (M.U.); (R.X.); (T.C.); (D.J.); (W.T.L.)
- Research Service, VA San Diego Healthcare System, San Diego, CA 92161, USA
| | - Wei Tse Li
- Department of Surgery, Division of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA; (M.U.); (R.X.); (T.C.); (D.J.); (W.T.L.)
- Research Service, VA San Diego Healthcare System, San Diego, CA 92161, USA
- School of Medicine, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA
| | - Mahadevan Rajasekaran
- Research Service, VA San Diego Healthcare System, San Diego, CA 92161, USA
- Department of Urology, San Diego VA Healthcare System, University of California, San Diego, CA 92161, USA
| | - Weg M. Ongkeko
- Department of Surgery, Division of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA; (M.U.); (R.X.); (T.C.); (D.J.); (W.T.L.)
- Research Service, VA San Diego Healthcare System, San Diego, CA 92161, USA
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Feitelson MA, Arzumanyan A, Medhat A, Spector I. Short-chain fatty acids in cancer pathogenesis. Cancer Metastasis Rev 2023; 42:677-698. [PMID: 37432606 PMCID: PMC10584782 DOI: 10.1007/s10555-023-10117-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/11/2023] [Accepted: 06/05/2023] [Indexed: 07/12/2023]
Abstract
Cancer is a multi-step process that can be viewed as a cellular and immunological shift away from homeostasis in response to selected infectious agents, mutations, diet, and environmental carcinogens. Homeostasis, which contributes importantly to the definition of "health," is maintained, in part by the production of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), which are metabolites of specific gut bacteria. Alteration in the composition of gut bacteria, or dysbiosis, is often a major risk factor for some two dozen tumor types. Dysbiosis is often characterized by diminished levels of SCFAs in the stool, and the presence of a "leaky gut," permitting the penetration of microbes and microbial derived molecules (e.g., lipopolysaccharides) through the gut wall, thereby triggering chronic inflammation. SCFAs attenuate inflammation by inhibiting the activation of nuclear factor kappa B, by decreasing the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor alpha, by stimulating the expression of anti-inflammatory cytokines such as interleukin-10 and transforming growth factor beta, and by promoting the differentiation of naïve T cells into T regulatory cells, which down-regulate immune responses by immunomodulation. SCFA function epigenetically by inhibiting selected histone acetyltransferases that alter the expression of multiple genes and the activity of many signaling pathways (e.g., Wnt, Hedgehog, Hippo, and Notch) that contribute to the pathogenesis of cancer. SCFAs block cancer stem cell proliferation, thereby potentially delaying or inhibiting cancer development or relapse by targeting genes and pathways that are mutated in tumors (e.g., epidermal growth factor receptor, hepatocyte growth factor, and MET) and by promoting the expression of tumor suppressors (e.g., by up-regulating PTEN and p53). When administered properly, SCFAs have many advantages compared to probiotic bacteria and fecal transplants. In carcinogenesis, SCFAs are toxic against tumor cells but not to surrounding tissue due to differences in their metabolic fate. Multiple hallmarks of cancer are also targets of SCFAs. These data suggest that SCFAs may re-establish homeostasis without overt toxicity and either delay or prevent the development of various tumor types.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Mark A Feitelson
- Department of Biology, College of Science and Technology, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, 19122, USA.
| | - Alla Arzumanyan
- Department of Biology, College of Science and Technology, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, 19122, USA
| | - Arvin Medhat
- Department of Molecular Cell Biology, Islamic Azad University Tehran North Branch, Tehran, 1975933411, Iran
| | - Ira Spector
- SFA Therapeutics, Jenkintown, PA, 19046, USA
| |
Collapse
|