colibactin tagged posts

Colibactin is a powerful toxin produced by Escherichia coli and other bacteria living in the human gut. This highly unstable bacterial product causes mutations in DNA that have been linked to colorectal cancer. Because it breaks down quickly, isolating and studying it has been difficult, but now scientists in the U.S. have discovered exactly how colibactin attacks DNA.

Using advanced tools such as mass spectrometry (MS) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, the team studied the toxin at the atomic level, as reported in a paper published in the journal Science...

Bacteria play a critical role in the development of colon cancer, new research suggests. Credit: Elizabeth Cook

Patients with an inherited form of colon cancer harbor two bacterial species that collaborate to encourage development of the disease, and the same species have been found in people who develop a sporadic form of colon cancer, a study led by a Johns Hopkins Bloomberg~Kimmel Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy research team finds. A second study in mice published concurrently by the same researchers shows a possible mechanism behind how one of these species spurs a specific type of immune response, promoting – instead of inhibiting – the formation of malignant tumors...