Project description:Pancreatic cancer is the 3rd most prevalent cause of cancer related deaths in United states alone, with over 55000 patients being diagnosed in 2019 alone and nearly as many succumbing to it. Late detection, lack of effective therapy and poor understanding of pancreatic cancer systemically contributes to its poor survival statistics. Obesity and high caloric intake linked co-morbidities like type 2 diabetes (T2D) have been attributed as being risk factors for a number of cancers including pancreatic cancer. Studies on gut microbiome has shown that lifestyle factors as well as diet has a huge effect on the microbial flora of the gut. Further, modulation of gut microbiome has been seen to contribute to effects of intensive insulin therapy in mice on high fat diet. In another study, abnormal gut microbiota was reported to contribute to development of diabetes in Db/Db mice. Recent studies indicate that microbiome and microbial dysbiosis plays a role in not only the onset of disease but also in its outcome. In colorectal cancer, Fusobacterium has been reported to promote therapy resistance. Certain intra-tumoral bacteria have also been shown to elicit chemo-resistance by metabolizing anti-cancerous agents. In pancreatic cancer, studies on altered gut microbiome have been relatively recent. Microbial dysbiosis has been observed to be associated with pancreatic tumor progression. Modulation of microbiome has been shown to affect response to anti-PD1 therapy in this disease as well. However, most of the studies in pancreatic cancer and microbiome have remained focused om immune modulation. In the current study, we observed that in a T2D mouse model, the microbiome changed significantly as the hyperglycemia developed in these animals. Our results further showed that, tumors implanted in the T2D mice responded poorly to Gemcitabine/Paclitaxel (Gem/Pac) standard of care compared to those in the control group. A metabolomic reconstruction of the WGS of the gut microbiota further revealed that an enrichment of bacterial population involved in drug metabolism in the T2D group.
Project description:Aging is associated with declining immunity and inflammation as well as alterations in the gut microbiome with a decrease of beneficial microbes and increase in pathogenic ones. The aim of this study was to investigate aging associated gut microbiome in relation to immunologic and metabolic profile in a non-human primate (NHP) model. 12 old (age>18 years) and 4 young (age 3-6 years) Rhesus macaques were included in this study. Immune cell subsets were characterized in PBMC by flow cytometry and plasma cytokines levels were determined by bead based multiplex cytokine analysis. Stool samples were collected by ileal loop and investigated for microbiome analysis by shotgun metagenomics. Serum, gut microbial lysate and microbe-free fecal extract were subjected to metabolomic analysis by mass-spectrometry. Our results showed that the old animals exhibited higher inflammatory biomarkers in plasma and lower CD4 T cells with altered distribution of naïve and memory T cell maturation subsets. The gut microbiome in old animals had higher abundance of Archaeal and Proteobacterial species and lower Firmicutes than the young. Significant enrichment of metabolites that contribute to inflammatory and cytotoxic pathways was observed in serum and feces of old animals compared to the young. We conclude that aging NHP undergo immunosenescence and age associated alterations in the gut microbiome that has a distinct metabolic profile.
Project description:Opioid analgesics are frequently prescribed in the United States and worldwide. However, serious side effects such as addiction, immunosuppression and gastrointestinal symptoms limit long term use. In the current study using a chronic morphine-murine model a longitudinal approach was undertaken to investigate the role of morphine modulation of gut microbiome as a mechanism contributing to the negative consequences associated with opioids use. The results revealed a significant shift in the gut microbiome and metabolome within 24 hours following morphine treatment when compared to placebo. Morphine induced gut microbial dysbiosis exhibited distinct characteristic signatures profiles including significant increase in communities associated with pathogenic function, decrease in communities associated with stress tolerance. Collectively, these results reveal opioids-induced distinct alteration of gut microbiome, may contribute to opioids-induced pathogenesis. Therapeutics directed at these targets may prolong the efficacy long term opioid use with fewer side effects.
Project description:<p>Exposure to environmental pollutants and human microbiome composition are important predisposition factors for tumour development. Similar to drug molecules, pollutants are typically metabolised in the body, which can change their carcinogenic potential and impact tissue distribution through altered toxicokinetics. Although recent studies demonstrated that human-associated microbes can chemically convert a wide range of xenobiotics and influence the profile and tissue exposure of resulting metabolites, the effect of microbial biotransformation on chemical-induced tumour development remains unclear. Here we show that the depletion of the gut microbiota dramatically reduces the development and severity of nitrosamine-induced urinary bladder cancer in mice, which affects the toxicokinetics of nitrosamines. We causally linked this carcinogen biotransformation to specific gut bacterial isolates in vitro and in vivo using individualized bacterial culture collections and gnotobiotic mouse models, respectively. We tested gut communities from different human donors to demonstrate that microbial carcinogen metabolism varies between individuals and we showed that this metabolic activity applies to structurally related nitrosamine-carcinogens. Altogether, these results suggest gut microbiota carcinogen metabolism as a contributing factor for chemical-induced carcinogenesis, which could open avenues to target the microbiome for improved predisposition risk assessment and prevention of cancer.</p>
Project description:At diagnosis approximately 75% of bladder urothelial carcinomas are non muscle invasive bladder cancers (Ta, T1 and Tis), 20% are muscle invasive bladder cancer (T2-T4) and 5% are already metastatic. Non muscle invasive bladder cancers are characterized by tumor recurrence in 60% to 85% of cases and, therefore, long-term followup is needed. The current standard methods to detect and monitor bladder cancer are cystoscopy and cytology. Cystoscopy is an invasive method and cytology is hampered by low sensitivity, especially for low grade tumors. So there is need to develop reliable and noninvasive methods to detect and predict bladder cancer biological behavior. So we have performed high density oligonucleotide microarray for discovery of new molecular markers to diagnose and predict the outcome of bladder cancer. Under an ethical guideline of Chhatrapati Shahuji Maharaj Medical University, India histologically confirmed seven bladder cancer patients were recruited from Department of Urology, Chhatrapati Shahuji Maharaj Medical University, Lucknow, India. Total RNA was extracted from tumor biopsies and hybridized on affymetrix Human Gene ST 1.1 array to determine differentially expressed genes in urinary bladder cancer with muscle invasion in comparison of normal human urinary bladder.
Project description:Bladder cancer is one of the most common cancers. Since prognosis ameliorates with early detection, it is a challenge to develop techniques that could replace or complement the current diagnosis protocols. The study of extracellular vesicles (EVs) that are present in urine samples has become an attractive alternative. The present study describes the mRNA content of vesicles isolated from voided urine samples within bladder cancer context. To discover a genetic signature of cancer, RNA associated to EVs was analyzed by microarray technique. Total RNA isolated from Extracellular Vesicles obtained from urine of bladder cancer patients was compared with RNA isolated from urinary vesicles of non-cancer patients.
Project description:Notch2 in promotion of bladder cancer growth and metastasis through epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT), cell cycle progression and maintenance of stemness. Notch2 induced gene expression in human urinary bladder cancer was measured at three independent experiments.