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Comment
. 2020 Aug 11;13(644):eabc4218.
doi: 10.1126/scisignal.abc4218.

Bacterial invaders drive CRC progression

Affiliations
Comment

Bacterial invaders drive CRC progression

Matthew Meyerson. Sci Signal. .

Abstract

The oral bacterium Fusobacterium nucleatum is often found in colorectal cancer (CRC). In the 21 July 2020 issue of Science Signaling, Casasanta et al show that CRC cell-resident F. nucleatum promotes cytokine secretion that may potentiate tumor growth and metastatic progression in patients.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: M.M. is chair of the Scientific Advisory Board and a consultant for OrigiMed, holds several patents on various diagnostic and therapeutic inventions (licensed to Bayer and LabCorp), and is an inventor on several patent applications related to Fusobacterium and colon cancer.

Figures

Figure 1:
Figure 1:. A model in which Fusobacterium nucleatum invasion into colorectal cancer cells induces cytokine secretion and invasion.
(A to C) A conceptual model of the findings of Casasanta et al. using a cultured CRC cell line, not actual CRC tissues. (A) F. nucleatum can invade CRC cells in a manner dependent on the bacterial adhesin protein FAP2. (B) Invasion of F. nucleatum induces secretion of IL-8 and CXCL1 by the host cell. (C) These cytokines, in turn, promote migration in both infected and uninfected cancer cells.

Comment on

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