Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

Colorectal cancer

CRC—all about microbial products and barrier function?

Novel findings draw attention to the adverse effect that neoplastic transformation of epithelial cells has on intestinal barrier function and cancer progression. An impaired intestinal barrier facilitated the translocation of microbial products, which promoted cytokine production and subsequent tumour progression in mice. The findings could open new therapeutic avenues for patients with early stage colorectal cancer.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Interplay between the intestinal milieu, host inflammatory responses and colorectal cancer.

References

  1. Grivennikov, S. I. et al. Adenoma-linked barrier defects and microbial products drive IL-23/IL-17-mediated tumour growth. Nature http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature11465.

  2. Frantz, A. L. et al. Targeted deletion of MyD88 in intestinal epithelial cells results in compromised antibacterial immunity associated with downregulation of polymeric immunoglobulin receptor, mucin-2, and antibacterial peptides. Mucosal Immunol. 5, 501–512 (2012).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Fukata, M. et al. Toll-like receptor-4 promotes the development of colitis-associated colorectal tumors. Gastroenterology 133, 1869–1881 (2007).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Chen, G. Y., Shaw, M. H., Redondo, G. & Nunez, G. The innate immune receptor Nod1 protects the intestine from inflammation-induced tumorigenesis. Cancer Res. 68, 10060–10067 (2008).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Tian, Y. et al. Differential effects of NOD2 polymorphisms on colorectal cancer risk: a meta-analysis. Int. J. Colorectal Dis. 25, 161–168 (2009).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Castellarin, M. et al. Fusobacterium nucleatum infection is prevalent in human colorectal carcinoma. Genome Res. 22, 299–306 (2012).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Kostic, A. D. et al. Genomic analysis identifies association of Fusobacterium with colorectal carcinoma. Genome Res. 22, 292–298 (2012).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Shen, X. J. et al. Molecular characterization of mucosal adherent bacteria and associations with colorectal adenomas. Gut Microbes 1, 138–147 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Sanapareddy, N. et al. Increased rectal microbial richness is associated with the presence of colorectal adenomas in humans. ISME J. 6, 1858–1868 (2012).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Hedin, C. R., Stagg, A. J., Whelan, K. & Lindsay, J. O. Family studies in Crohn's disease: new horizons in understanding disease pathogenesis, risk and prevention. Gut 61, 311–318 (2012).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The author would like to acknowledge grant support from the NIH, grants DK047700 and DK073338.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The author declares no competing financial interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Jobin, C. CRC—all about microbial products and barrier function?. Nat Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol 9, 694–696 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrgastro.2012.220

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrgastro.2012.220

This article is cited by

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing