RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Parvimonas micra, an oral pathobiont associated with colorectal cancer, epigenetically reprograms human primary intestinal epithelial cells JF bioRxiv FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory SP 2022.05.14.491935 DO 10.1101/2022.05.14.491935 A1 Emma Bergsten A1 Denis Mestivier A1 Francoise Donnadieu A1 Thierry Pedron A1 Landry Tsoumtsa A1 Emmanuel Lemichez A1 Olivier Gorgette A1 Stevenn Volant A1 Abiba Doukani A1 Philippe J. Sansonetti A1 Iradj Sobhani A1 Giulia Nigro YR 2022 UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2022/05/14/2022.05.14.491935.abstract AB Recently, an intestinal dysbiotic microbiota in the feces of colorectal cancer (CRC) patients with an enrichment of bacteria belonging to the oral microbiota has been described. Here we characterized and investigated one of these oral pathobionts, the Gram-positive anaerobic coccus Parvimonas micra. We identified two phylotypes (A and B) exhibiting different phenotypes and adhesion capabilities. We observed a strong association of phylotype A with CRC, with its higher abundance in feces and in tumoral tissue compared to the normal homologous colonic mucosa, which was associated with a distinct methylation status of patients. By developing an in vitro hypoxic co-culture system of human primary colonic cells with anaerobic bacteria, we showed that P. micra phylotype A induces modifications in DNA methylation of the promoters of several tumor-suppressor genes, oncogenes, and genes involved in epithelial-mesenchymal transition, providing evidence of its possible role in carcinogenesis.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.