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Fusobacterium nucleatum, inflammation, and immunity: the fire within human gut

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Tumor Biology

Abstract

Fusobacterium nucleatum is an identified proinflammatory autochthonous bacterium implicated in human colorectal cancer. It is also abundantly found in patients suffering from chronic gut inflammation (inflammatory bowel disease), consequently contributing to the pathogenesis of colorectal cancer. Majority of the studies have reported that colorectal tumors/colorectal adenocarcinomas are highly enriched with F. nucleatum compared to noninvolved adjacent colonic tissue. During the course of multistep development of colorectal cancer, tumors have evolved many mechanisms to resist the antitumor immune response. One of such favorite ploy is providing access to pathogenic bacteria, especially F. nucleatum in the colorectal tumor microenvironment, wherein both (colorectal tumors and F. nucleatum) exert profound effect on each other, consequently attracting tumor-permissive myeloid-derived suppressor cells, suppressing cytotoxic CD8+ T cells and inhibiting NK cell-mediated cancer cell killing. In this review, we have primarily focused on how this bug modulates the immune response, consequently rendering the antitumor immune cells inactive.

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Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge the support provided by University of Kashmir, Srinagar. The contributions made by Mudassir Habib, Samirul Bashir, and Nazia Hilal from the Department of Biotechnology, University of Kashmir are acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biotechnology, University of Kashmir, Srinagar, 190006, J&K, India

    Arif Bashir, Younis Mohammad Hazari & Khalid Majid Fazili

  2. Department of Human Genetics, Punjabi University, Patiala, 147002, Punjab, India

    Abid Yousuf Miskeen

  3. Department of Zoology, North Orissa University, Orissa, 757003, India

    Syed Asrafuzzaman

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  1. Arif Bashir
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Correspondence to Khalid Majid Fazili.

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Bashir, A., Miskeen, A.Y., Hazari, Y.M. et al. Fusobacterium nucleatum, inflammation, and immunity: the fire within human gut. Tumor Biol. 37, 2805–2810 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13277-015-4724-0

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