RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Distinct Colon Mucosa Microbiomes associated with Tubular Adenomas and Serrated Polyps
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 2021.07.20.453135
DO 10.1101/2021.07.20.453135
A1 Julio Avelar-Barragan
A1 Lauren DeDecker
A1 Zachary Lu
A1 Bretton Coppedge
A1 William E. Karnes
A1 Katrine L. Whiteson
YR 2021
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2021/07/21/2021.07.20.453135.abstract
AB Background Colorectal cancer is the second most deadly and third most common cancer in the world. Its development is heterogenous, with multiple mechanisms of carcinogenesis. Two distinct mechanisms include the adenoma-carcinoma sequence and the serrated pathway. The gut microbiome has been identified as a key player in the adenoma-carcinoma sequence, but its role in serrated carcinogenesis is unclear. In this study, we characterized the gut microbiome of 140 polyp-free and polyp-bearing individuals using colon mucosa and fecal samples to determine if microbiome composition was associated with each of the two key pathways.Results We discovered significant differences between colon mucosa and fecal samples, explaining 14% of the variation observed in the microbiome. Multiple mucosal samples were collected from each individual to investigate the gut microbiome for differences between polyp and healthy intestinal tissue, but no such differences were found. Colon mucosa sampling revealed that the microbiomes of individuals with tubular adenomas and serrated polyps were significantly different from each other and polyp-free individuals, explaining 2-10% of the variance in the microbiome. Further analysis revealed differential abundances of Eggerthella lenta, Clostridium scindens, and three microbial genes across tubular adenoma, serrated polyp, and polyp-free cases.Conclusion By directly sampling the colon mucosa and distinguishing between the different developmental pathways of colorectal cancer, this study helps characterize potential mechanistic targets and diagnostic biomarkers for serrated carcinogenesis. This research also provides insight into multiple microbiome sampling strategies by assessing each method’s practicality and effect on microbial community composition.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.