Genetic signature links colibactin to colon cancer

Abstract

For over a decade, scientists have found correlations between the bacteria in our guts and our health. Research led by scientists in the Netherlands has now shown that one of those bugs produces a metabolite that causes specific mutations in colon cancer (Nature 2020, DOI: 10.1038/s41586-020-2080-8). The toxin dubbed colibactin has proved tricky for chemists to isolate and study. But specific mutations found in the new research support the work of chemists that suggested how colibactin interacts with DNA. Researchers say the work also backs up the idea that eliminating or neutralizing colibactin-producing bacteria in the intestinal tract could prevent colorectal cancer in a significant number of people. “It’s exciting to see how far the colibactin field has come,” says Emily Balskus, a Harvard University microbial chemist who showed last year how colibactin specifically binds to adenine residues in DNA. To investigate whether colibactin’s potential to bind gut-cell DNA might