Browsing by Author "Allen-Vercoe E"

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    Bacterial lipopolysaccharide modulates immune response in the colorectal tumor microenvironment.
    (Nature Portfolio, 2023-08-23) Sulit AK; Daigneault M; Allen-Vercoe E; Silander OK; Hock B; McKenzie J; Pearson J; Frizelle FA; Schmeier S; Purcell R
    Immune responses can have opposing effects in colorectal cancer (CRC), the balance of which may determine whether a cancer regresses, progresses, or potentially metastasizes. These effects are evident in CRC consensus molecular subtypes (CMS) where both CMS1 and CMS4 contain immune infiltrates yet have opposing prognoses. The microbiome has previously been associated with CRC and immune response in CRC but has largely been ignored in the CRC subtype discussion. We used CMS subtyping on surgical resections from patients and aimed to determine the contributions of the microbiome to the pleiotropic effects evident in immune-infiltrated subtypes. We integrated host gene-expression and meta-transcriptomic data to determine the link between immune characteristics and microbiome contributions in these subtypes and identified lipopolysaccharide (LPS) binding as a potential functional mechanism. We identified candidate bacteria with LPS properties that could affect immune response, and tested the effects of their LPS on cytokine production of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). We focused on Fusobacterium periodonticum and Bacteroides fragilis in CMS1, and Porphyromonas asaccharolytica in CMS4. Treatment of PBMCs with LPS isolated from these bacteria showed that F. periodonticum stimulates cytokine production in PBMCs while both B. fragilis and P. asaccharolytica had an inhibitory effect. Furthermore, LPS from the latter two species can inhibit the immunogenic properties of F. periodonticum LPS when co-incubated with PBMCs. We propose that different microbes in the CRC tumor microenvironment can alter the local immune activity, with important implications for prognosis and treatment response.
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    Editors' Prelude to Microbiome Research Reports.
    (OAE Publishing, 2021-07-20) Ventura M; van Sinderen D; Turroni F; Milani C; Munoz J; Haller D; Ross RP; Collado MC; Allen-Vercoe E; Del Rio D; Altermann E; Katayama T; Zoetendal EG; Belzer C; Mena P; Im S-H; Gueimonde M; Margolles A; Ruiz L; Lacroix C; Stanton C; Barbara G; Saminen S; Scott KP; Barrangou R; Bottacini F; Marco ML
    It is our sincere pleasure to introduce a new scientific journal named Microbiome Research Reports (acronym MRR), born out of an ambitious initiative from the Editorial Board of this new journal. Our motivation to initiate a new journal on microbiome research was driven by the importance and impact of the microbiome for human and planetary health, with related research interest and effort driven by the scientific community on the subject. In fact, research findings on this subject represent a Copernican Revolution influencing all research branches of the Life Sciences. For example, vast efforts are currently invested in elucidating potential links between microbiome and disease, which could lead to the discovery of microbial biomarkers for novel therapeutic and preventative strategies. We feel that it is very timely to launch a new journal focusing on Microbiome studies in humans and other animals, i.e., both wild- and domesticated- animals, being convinced that it will be a platform for the dissemination of microbiome discoveries.