Cited by 210Gut microbiota and healthBacterial biofilms and quorum sensingEscherichia coli research studies

Human colon mucosal biofilms from healthy or colon cancer hosts are carcinogenic

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Tomkovich, Sarah, Dejea, Christine M., Winglee, Kathryn, Drewes, Julia L., Chung, Liam, Housseau, Franck, Pope, Jillian L., Gauthier, Josee +18 more·2019·Journal of Clinical Investigation

Abstract

Mucus-invasive bacterial biofilms are identified on the colon mucosa of approximately 50% of colorectal cancer (CRC) patients and approximately 13% of healthy subjects. Here, we test the hypothesis that human colon biofilms comprise microbial communities that are carcinogenic in CRC mouse models. Homogenates of human biofilm-positive colon mucosa were prepared from tumor patients (tumor and paired normal tissues from surgical resections) or biofilm-positive biopsies from healthy individuals undergoing screening colonoscopy; homogenates of biofilm-negative colon biopsies from healthy individuals undergoing screening colonoscopy served as controls. After 12 weeks, biofilm-positive, but not biofilm-negative, human colon mucosal homogenates induced colon tumor formation in 3 mouse colon tumor models (germ-free ApcMinΔ850/+;Il10-/- or ApcMinΔ850/+ and specific pathogen-free ApcMinΔ716/+ mice). Remarkably, biofilm-positive communities from healthy colonoscopy biopsies induced colon inflammation and tumors similarly to biofilm-positive tumor tissues. By 1 week, biofilm-positive human tumor homogenates, but not healthy biopsies, displayed consistent bacterial mucus invasion and biofilm formation in mouse colons. 16S rRNA gene sequencing and RNA-Seq analyses identified compositional and functional microbiota differences between mice colonized with biofilm-positive and biofilm-negative communities. These results suggest human colon mucosal biofilms, whether from tumor hosts or healthy individuals undergoing screening colonoscopy, are carcinogenic in murine models of CRC.

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  • Enrichment of bacterial species from oral cavity is characteristic of CRC GOMS, along with enrichment in invasive polymicrobial bacterial biofilms in patients with right-sided tumours.

    “The enrichment of bacterial species from the oral cavity is characteristic of the CRC GOMS50,76–79, along with an enrichment in invasive polymicrobial bacterial biofilms in patients with right-sided tumours76,80,81.”
  • Gut microbiota affect anticancer immunity, controlling spontaneous tumor growth and response to chemo- and immunotherapy.

    “It is now well appreciated that gut microbiota affect anticancer immunity, controlling spontaneous tumor growth (Arthur et al., 2012; Dejea et al., 2018; Tomkovich et al., 2019) as well as response to chemo- and immunotherapy (Iida et al., 2013; Mager et al., 2020; Paulos et al., 2007; Sivan et al., 2015; Tanoue et al., 2019; Vetizou et al., 2015; Viaud et al., 2013).”

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  1. Wickham H. ggplot2: Elegant Graphics for Data Analysis. New York, NY: Springer-Verlag; 2009.

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Authors
Tomkovich, S., Dejea, C. M., Winglee, K., Drewes, J. L., Chung, L., Housseau, F., Pope, J. L., Gauthier, J., Sun, X., Mühlbauer, M., Liu, X., Fathi, P., Anders, R. A., Besharati, S., Perez-Chanona, E., Yang, Y., Ding, H., Wu, X., Wu, S., White, J. R., Gharaibeh, R. Z., Fodor, A. A., Wang, H., Pardoll, D. M., Jobin, C., & Sears, C. L.
Affiliations
  • University of Florida (US)
  • Johns Hopkins University (US)
  • University of North Carolina at Charlotte (US)
  • Resphera Biosciences (US)
Corresponding author
  • Jobin, Christian
  • Sears, Cynthia L.
Venue
Journal of Clinical Investigation
Published
2019-03-11
Volume
129
Issue
4
Pages
1699-1712
ISSN
  • 0021-9738 (ISSN-L)
  • 1558-8238
OpenAlex
W2921953499
Cited by
209
References
49
Citations by year
2026: 15 · 2025: 20 · 2024: 29 · 2023: 33 · 2022: 24 · 2021: 45 · 2020: 31 · 2019: 11 · 2018: 1
FWCI
9.18
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Journal of Clinical Investigation (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
  • NIH (R01DK073338, R01DK47700, R01 CA151393, R01CA196845, P50 CA62924, P30 CA006973, P30 DK089502, K99 CA230192, S10OD016374)
  • Bloomberg Philanthropies (Microbiome Project)
  • Johns Hopkins Discovery Award (Internal award)
  • Commonwealth Foundation (Johns Hopkins)
  • Cancer Research Institute/Fight Colorectal Cancer coalition (CRC discovery award)
  • University of Florida Health Cancer Center Funds (internal award)
  • University of Florida Department of Medicine Gatorade Fund (internal award)
  • Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation (CCFA Ref. #409472)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Gut microbiota and health
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Bacterial biofilms and quorum sensing
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Endocrinology › Escherichia coli research studies
Keywords
colorectal cancer, carcinogenesis, gut microbiota, ApcMin/+ mice, germ-free mice, colonic inflammation, tumor formation, microbial communities, 16S rRNA gene sequencing, RNA-seq
MeSH terms
Gastrointestinal Microbiome, Animals, Colon, Colonic Neoplasms, Humans, Neoplasms, Experimental, Mice, Knockout, Biofilms, Mice, Carcinogenesis

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