The microbes in the human gut can have a powerful effect on our health and well-being, as many studies have shown in recent years. One way this can happen is through the molecules that microbial cells in the gut modify or produce, some of which can affect human biology. Recent work has identified molecules that microbes in the gut generate that could promote certain types of cancer, while other research has found microbial metabolites that may help prevent cancer.
Researchers have now revealed that some gut microbes make a toxin that can help them maintain dominance in the microbiome, and suppress other microbes. Bacteria known as Bacteroides often make up about half of the human gut microbiome, and they helps us digest certain molecules. These bacteria can metabolize nutrients and complex carbohydrates. They also make cholesterol-dependent cytolysin-like (CDCL) toxins, which can poke holes in other microbes, causing them to die. But CDCL is only used when Bacteroides touch another bacteria, and they are also protected by a protein shield.
This system might be something researches can harness, and redirect against harmful, cancerous cells. The findings have been reported in Science Advances, as the researchers followup on a report that outlined that discovery of CDCLs.
The researchers are now turning CDCLs against other targets, such as the cells of glioblastoma, HER2-positive breast cancer, and other diseases.
Immunotoxins that are engineered to target disease cells are not a novel idea, but they have not typically worked very well. This study worked to create immunotoxins that are different, noted Rodney Tweten, Ph.D. These aim to destroy cells from the outside instead of those that have to make their way into cells in order to kill them.
"They work surprisingly well in the lab," said Tweten, a professor at the University of Oklahoma. "The way we would envision them working is with glioblastoma, for example, we would place these toxins into the tumor cavity after surgery so they can kill off any remaining tumor cells that weren't removed. This is an exciting new area of research for our lab."
Sources: University of Oklahoma, Science Advances