Preliminary Analysis of the Presence of Bacterial Azurin Coding Gene in CRC Patients and Correlation with the Microbiota Composition.

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

Azurin, a bacterial cupredoxin firstly isolated from the bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa, is considered a potential alternative therapeutic tool against different types of cancer.

AIMS:

In this work we have explored the relationship possibly existing between azurin and colorectal cancer (CRC), in light of the evidence that microbial imbalance can lead to CRC progression.

METHODOLOGY/RESULTS:

To this aim, the presence of azurin coding gene in the DNA extracted from saliva, stool, and biopsy samples of 10 CRC patients and 10 healthy controls was evaluated by real-time PCR using primers specifically designed to target the azurin coding gene from different bacterial groups. The correlation of the previously obtained microbiota data with real-time PCR results evidenced a "preferential" enrichment of seven bacterial groups in some samples than in others, even though no statistical significance was detected between controls and CRC. The subset of azurin gene-harbouring bacterial groups was representative of the entire community.

CONCLUSIONS:

Despite the lack of statistical significance between healthy and diseased patients, HTS data analysis highlighted a kind of "preferential" enrichment of seven bacterial groups harbouring the azurin gene in some samples than in others.

• Authors: Marta Iozzo, Francesco Vitali, Carolina Chiellini, Leandro Gammuto, Antonio Taddei, Amedeo Amedei, Renato Fani
• Journal: Frontiers in bioscience (Landmark edition) (Front Biosci (Landmark Ed)) Vol. 27 Issue 11 Pg. 305 (11 11 2022) ISSN: 2768-6698 [Electronic] Singapore
• PMID: 36472111 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)
• Copyright: © 2022 The Author(s). Published by IMR Press.

Chemical References

• Azurin

Topics

• Humans
• Azurin (genetics)
• Genes, Bacterial
• Pseudomonas aeruginosa (genetics)
• Microbiota (genetics)