BRIEF RESEARCH REPORT article
Front. Cell. Infect. Microbiol.
Sec. Bacteria and Host
Volume 15 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2025.1644443
This article is part of the Research TopicTumor-mediated host manipulation of gut microbial colonization and diversity: linking molecular mechanisms and clinical interventionsView all articles
Can Fusobacterium utilize nucleomodulins in pathophysiology of CRC?
Provisionally accepted
- Life Sciences R&D, TCS Research, Tata Consultancy Services Limited, Pune, India
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Fusobacterium nucleatum (Fn) has been appositely termed as ‘oncobacterium’ owing to its high abundance in colorectal tumor tissues throughout the course of tumorigenesis. However, beyond FadA and Fap2, there is a limited understanding of its virulence factors and mode of pathogenesis. Latest studies indicate an association of host genetic and epigenetic modifications with the degree of Fn colonization in tumor tissues. These changes are implicated in rendering the microenvironment more conducive for progression to later stages of tumorigenesis. Recent reports suggest involvement of strains belonging to Clade C2 within Fn subspecies animalis (Fna C2) in CRC that might have the ability to influence host homeostasis. In this study, we focus on identification of candidate ‘Nucleomodulins (NMs)’, which are nucleus-targeting effector proteins in Fna using various in silico sequence, structural and molecular dynamics simulation analysis. The results suggest presence of set of NMs in Fna, possessing classical nuclear localization signal (cNLS), which can potentially bind to importin. This catalogue of candidate NMs would help in designing experiments toward exploring their potential role in modulating host gene expression and epigenetics by entering the nucleus.
Keywords: Fusobacterium nucleatum, CRC, Pathogenesis, Host-Pathogen Interactions, nucleomodulins
Received: 10 Jun 2025; Accepted: 26 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 ANAND, Korgaonkar and Das. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: SWADHA ANAND, swadha.anand@tcs.com
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