Abstract

Background

Gut microbiome community composition differs between cervical cancer (CC) patients and healthy controls, and increased gut diversity is associated with improved outcomes after treatment. We proposed that functions of specific microbial species adjoining the mucus layer may directly impact the biology of CC.

Method

Metagenomes of rectal swabs in 41 CC patients were examined by whole-genome shotgun sequencing to link taxonomic structures, molecular functions, and metabolic pathway to patient’s clinical characteristics.

Results

Significant association of molecular functions encoded by the metagenomes was found with initial tumor size and stage. Profiling of the molecular function abundances and their distributions identified 2 microbial communities co-existing in each metagenome but having distinct metabolism and taxonomic structures. Community A (Clostridia and Proteobacteria predominant) was characterized by high activity of pathways involved in stress response, mucus glycan degradation and utilization of degradation byproducts. This community was prevalent in patients with larger, advanced stage tumors. Conversely, community B (Bacteroidia predominant) was characterized by fast growth, active oxidative phosphorylation, and production of vitamins. This community was prevalent in patients with smaller, early-stage tumors.

Conclusions

In this study, enrichment of mucus degrading microbial communities in rectal metagenomes of CC patients was associated with larger, more advanced stage tumors.

Details

Title
Metagenomes of rectal swabs in larger, advanced stage cervical cancers have enhanced mucus degrading functionalities and distinct taxonomic structure
Author
Karpinets, Tatiana V; Wu, Xiaogang; Solley, Travis; El Alam, Molly B; Sims, Travis T; Yoshida-Court, Kyoko; Lynn, Erica; Ahmed-Kaddar, Mustapha; Greyson Biegert; Yue, Jingyan; Song, Xingzhi; Sun, Huandong; Petrosino, Joseph F; Mezzari, Melissa P; Okhuysen, Pablo; Eifel, Patricia J
Pages
1-16
Section
Research article
Publication year
2022
Publication date
2022
Publisher
BioMed Central
e-ISSN
14712407
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2715495956
Copyright
© 2022. This work is licensed under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.