Roles of gut dysbiosis, anti-proliferative proteins, and post-transcriptional regulation in carcinogenesis

The potentially powerful impact of microbiota has attracted much attention. For example, dysbiosis of the gut microbiota could be linked to various cancers. It is probable that DNA damage and DNA repair impairment due to inflammation from gut dysbiosis would be of importance in carcinogenesis and/or preventing carcinogenesis. In fact, the signature of the gut microbiome has been shown to be associated with responses and/or successful survival rate to certain immune-blockade therapy in several cancers. Conversely, living cells have to cope with the danger of reactive oxygen species (ROS) disturbing the integrity of biomolecules, which can eventually lead to carcinogenesis if otherwise untreated. Gut microbiota could modulate considerable levels of ROS and oxidative damage. Interestingly, an anti-proliferative family (APRO) characterized by several immediate early responsive gene products might be deeply involved in the mechanism of carcinogenesis. It has been described that APRO proteins also participate in a variety of cellular processes including cell division, DNA repair, and mRNA stability. The biological function of APRO proteins seems to be quite complicated; however, they might be a key modulator of microRNAs (miRNAs) for post-transcriptional regulation. The next generation of therapy would likely contain strategies for modifying the redox background as well as the regulation of ROS in cells and/or for better DNA repair machinery with the APRO proteins via the modulation of miRNA-derived post-transcriptional regulation in a sustainable manner. Given the important function of the gut microbiota in balancing the immune network, carcinogenesis could therefore be prevented by suitable gut microbiota via the roles of APRO proteins. Consequently, probiotics might play a key role in the modulation of gut immune system in keeping healthy and/or preventing cancers.