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Tao L, Chiarelli MP, Pavlova S, Kolokythas A, Schwartz J, DeFrancesco J, Salameh B, Green SJ, Adami G. Enrichment of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon metabolizing microorganisms on the oral mucosa of tobacco users. PeerJ 2024; 12:e16626. [PMID: 38188172 PMCID: PMC10771095 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.16626] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/23/2023] [Accepted: 11/16/2023] [Indexed: 01/09/2024] Open
Abstract
Certain soil microbes resist and metabolize polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The same is true for a subset of skin microbes. In the human mouth, oral microbes have the potential to oxidize tobacco PAHs, thereby increasing these chemicals' ability to cause cancer of adjacent epithelium. We hypothesized that we could identify, in smokers, the oral mucosal microbes that can metabolize PAH. We isolated bacteria and fungi that survived long-term in minimal media with PAHs as the sole carbon source, under aerobic conditions, from the oral mucosa in 17 of 26 smokers and two of 14 nonsmokers. Of bacteria genera that survived harsh PAH exposure in vitro, most were found at trace levels, except for Staphylococcus, Actinomyces, and Kingella, which were more abundant. Two PAH-resistant strains of Candida albicans (C. albicans) were isolated from smokers. C. albicans was a prime candidate to contribute to carcinogenesis in tobacco users as it is found orally at high levels in tobacco users on the mucosa, and some Candida species can metabolize PAHs. However, when C. albicans isolates were tested for metabolism of two model PAH substrates, pyrene and phenanthrene, they were not capable, suggesting they cannot metabolize PAH under the conditions used. In conclusion, evidence for large scale microbial degradation of tobacco PAHs under aerobic conditions on the oral mucosa remains lacking, though nonabundant PAH metabolizers are certainly present.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lin Tao
- Department of Oral Biology, College of Dentistry, University of Illinois Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States of America
| | - M Paul Chiarelli
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Loyola University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States of America
| | - Sylvia Pavlova
- Department of Oral Biology, College of Dentistry, University of Illinois Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States of America
| | - Antonia Kolokythas
- Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Eastman Institute for Oral Health, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, United States of America
| | - Joel Schwartz
- Oral Medicine and Diagnostic Sciences, University of Illinois Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States of America
| | - James DeFrancesco
- Forensic Science Program — Department of Criminal Justice, Loyola University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States of America
| | - Benjamin Salameh
- Oral Medicine and Diagnostic Sciences, University of Illinois Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States of America
| | - Stefan J. Green
- DNA Sequencing Core, Research Resources Center, University of Illinois Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States of America
| | - Guy Adami
- Oral Medicine and Diagnostic Sciences, University of Illinois Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States of America
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Liu H, Li G, Sturgis EM, Shete S, Dahlstrom KR, Du M, Amos CI, Christiani DC, Lazarus P, Wei Q. Genetic variants in CYP2B6 and HSD17B12 associated with risk of squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck. Int J Cancer 2022; 151:553-564. [PMID: 35404482 PMCID: PMC9203942 DOI: 10.1002/ijc.34023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/01/2021] [Revised: 02/23/2022] [Accepted: 02/28/2022] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) and tobacco-specific nitrosamines (TSNA) metabolism-related genes play an important role in the development of cancers. We assessed the associations of genetic variants in genes involved in the metabolism of PAHs and TSNA with risk of squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN) in European populations using two published genome-wide association study datasets. In the single-locus analysis, we identified two SNPs (rs145533669 and rs35246205) in CYP2B6 to be associated with risk of SCCHN (P = 1.57 × 10-4 and .004, respectively), two SNPs (EPHX1 rs117522494 and CYP2B6 rs145533669) to be associated with risk of oropharyngeal cancer (P = .001 and .004, respectively), and one SNP (rs4359199 in HSD17B12) to be associated with risk of oral cancer (P = .006). A significant interaction effect was found between rs4359199 and drinking status on risks of SCCHN and oropharyngeal cancer (P < .05). eQTL and sQTL analyzes revealed that two SNPs (CYP2B6 rs35246205 and HSD17B12 rs4359199) were correlated with alternative splicing or mRNA expression levels of the corresponding genes in liver cells (P < .05 for both). In silico functional annotation suggested that these two SNPs may regulate mRNA expression by affecting the binding of transcription factors. Results from phenome-wide association studies presented significant associations between these genes and risks of other cancers, smoking behavior and alcohol dependence (P < .05). Thus, our study provided some insight into the underlying genetic mechanism of head and neck cancer, which warrants future functional validation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hongliang Liu
- Duke Cancer Institute, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA
- Department of Population Health Sciences, Duke University Medical School, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Guojun Li
- Department of Head and Neck Surgery, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Erich M. Sturgis
- Department of Head and Neck Surgery, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Sanjay Shete
- Department of Epidemiology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA
- Department of Biostatistics, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Kristina R. Dahlstrom
- Department of Biostatistics, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Mulong Du
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, 677 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
- Department of Biostatistics, Center for Global Health, School of Public Health, Nanjing Medical University, 101 Longmian Avenue, Nanjing, 211166, Jiangsu, China
| | - Christopher I. Amos
- The Institute for Clinical and Translational Research, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, 77030, TX, USA
| | - David C. Christiani
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, 677 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
- Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, 55 Fruit Street, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
| | - Philip Lazarus
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Washington State University, Spokane, WA, 99210, USA
| | - Qingyi Wei
- Duke Cancer Institute, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA
- Department of Population Health Sciences, Duke University Medical School, Durham, NC, USA
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