AUTHOR=Bostanghadiri Narjess , Razavi Shabnam , Shariati Aref , Talebi Malihe , Mirkalantari Shiva , Emami Razavi Amirnader , Darban-Sarokhalil Davood 

TITLE=Exploring the interplay between Fusobacterium nucleatum with the expression of microRNA, and inflammatory mediators in colorectal cancer

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=14

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2023.1302719

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2023.1302719

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=<sec><title>Background</title><p><italic>Fusobacterium nucleatum</italic> has been recognized as an important key bacterium in the cause and spread of colorectal carcinogenesis. Nevertheless, the clinical relevance of <italic>F. nucleatum</italic> in colorectal cancer (CRC) and its effect on immune factors and the tumor microenvironment have not been fully elucidated.</p></sec><sec><title>Materials and methods</title><p>The frequency of <italic>F. nucleatum</italic> was measured in 100 paired tumor and normal tissue specimens by TaqMan quantification Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction (qPCR). The mRNA expression levels of cytokines (<italic>IL-6, IL-10, IL-12</italic>β, <italic>IL-17, TNF-</italic>α<italic>, TLR-2</italic>, and <italic>TLR-4</italic>), and miRNAs (<italic>miR-21, miR-31</italic>) were examined. Eventually, any potential correlations between the molecular and clinicopathological features of the neoplastic samples and the abundance of <italic>F. nucleatum</italic> were analyzed.</p></sec><sec><title>Results</title><p>The relative frequency of <italic>F. nucleatum</italic> was significantly increased in cancerous tissue compared to adjacent non-tumor tissues. Furthermore, the high level of <italic>F. nucleatum</italic> was significantly associated with histological grade III and IV CRC tissues (<italic>P</italic> = 0.027 and <italic>P</italic> = 0.022, respectively) and perineural invasion-positive patients (<italic>P</italic> = 0.037). In addition, the expression levels of <italic>IL-6, IL-17, TNF-</italic>α<italic>,IL-12</italic>β<italic>, TLR-2</italic>, and <italic>TLR-4</italic> as well as <italic>miR-21</italic> and <italic>miR-31</italic> showed a significant increase in the cancer group. A notable correlation was also observed between the high status of <italic>F. nucleatum</italic> and the expression of <italic>IL-6, TNF-</italic>α and <italic>miR-21</italic>.</p></sec><sec><title>Conclusion</title><p>Our results emphasize the importance of <italic>F. nucleatum</italic> and changes in the expression of genes involved in CRC. Studying the microbial profile and gene expression changes in CRC patients may be a promising approach to improve screening methods and provide therapeutic strategies.</p></sec>