Colibactin-producing Escherichia coli enhance resistance to chemotherapeutic drugs by promoting epithelial to mesenchymal transition and cancer stem cell emergence

Guillaume Dalmasso (1) , Antony Cougnoux (1) , Tiphanie Faïs (1) , Virginie Bonnin (1) , Benoit Mottet-Auselo (1) , Hang Tt Nguyen (1) , Pierre Sauvanet (1) , Nicolas Barnich (1) , Marine Jary (1) , Denis Pezet (1) , Julien Delmas (1) , Richard Bonnet (1)

1 M2iSH - Microbes, Intestin, Inflammation et Susceptibilité de l'Hôte

Human colorectal cancers (CRCs) are readily colonized by colibactin-producing E. coli (CoPEC). CoPEC induces DNA double-strand breaks, DNA mutations, genomic instability, and cellular senescence. Infected cells produce a senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP), which is involved in the increase in tumorigenesis observed in CRC mouse models infected with CoPEC. This study investigated whether CoPEC, and the SASP derived from CoPEC-infected cells, impacted chemotherapeutic resistance. Human intestinal epithelial cells were infected with the CoPEC clinical 11G5 strain or with its isogenic mutant, which is unable to produce colibactin. Chemotherapeutic resistance was assessed in vitro and in a xenograft mouse model. Expressions of cancer stem cell (CSC) markers in infected cells were investigated. Data were validated using a CRC mouse model and human clinical samples. Both 11G5-infected cells, and uninfected cells incubated with the SASP produced by 11G5-infected cells exhibited an increased resistance to chemotherapeutic drugs in vitro and in vivo. This finding correlated with the induction of the epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT), which led to the emergence of cells exhibiting CSC features. They grew on ultra-low attachment plates, formed colonies in soft agar, and overexpressed several CSC markers (e.g. CD133, OCT-3/4, and NANOG). In agreement with these results, murine and human CRC biopsies colonized with CoPEC exhibited higher expression levels of OCT-3/4 and NANOG than biopsies devoid of CoPEC. Conclusion: CoPEC might aggravate CRCs by inducing the emergence of cancer stem cells that are highly resistant to chemotherapy.

Keywords: Colorectal cancer; colibactin; pks; chemotherapy resistance; cancer stem cell; microbiota; Escherichia coli; CoPEC; Colorectal cancer colibactin pks chemotherapy resistance cancer stem cell microbiota Escherichia coli CoPEC

Domains: Hépatology and Gastroenterology; Microbiology and Parasitology

Guillaume Dalmasso, Antony Cougnoux, Tiphanie Faïs, Virginie Bonnin, Benoit Mottet-Auselo, et al.. Colibactin-producing Escherichia coli enhance resistance to chemotherapeutic drugs by promoting epithelial to mesenchymal transition and cancer stem cell emergence. Gut microbes, 2024, 16 (1), pp.2310215. ⟨10.1080/19490976.2024.2310215⟩. ⟨hal-04530484⟩