ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Cell. Infect. Microbiol.
Sec. Intestinal Microbiome
This article is part of the Research TopicUnlocking the Potential of the Microbiome in Cancer TherapyView all 16 articles
Bacteriophage FNU1 negates Fusobacterium nucleatum induced cell growth, migration and chemotherapy resistance in gastrointestinal cancer cells
Provisionally accepted
- 1La Trobe Institute for Molecular Science, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia
- 2Holsworth Biomedical Research Centre, La Trobe Rural Health School, La Trobe University, Bendigo VIC 3550, Australia, Bendigo, Australia
- 3Department of Rural Clinical Sciences, La Trobe Rural Health School, La Trobe University, Bendigo, Australia
- 4Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute, Heidelberg, Australia
- 5La Trobe University School of Cancer Medicine, Heidelberg, Australia
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Fusobacterium nucleatum is an oncobacterium capable of promoting the growth and chemotherapy resistance of colonised tumours. Although F. nucleatum is usually susceptible to a range of antibiotics in vitro, these have been associated with worse outcomes when administered with anti-neoplastic chemotherapy. Bacteriophages are viewed as natural alternatives to antibiotics that provide bacterial-specific targeting. In this study, we have employed an F. nucleatum specific bacteriophage, FNU1, to limit the effects of this oncobacteria in colon cancer and gastric cancer cell models. We demonstrated that FNU1 was able to negate the F. nucleatum induced growth stimulatory effects, migratory ability, autophagy, anti-apoptotic effects and chemotherapy resistance in these cell models. Treatments with bacteriophage FNU1, therefore, have the potential to augment existing cancer therapy, and further testing in animal models is warranted.
Keywords: 5-fluorouracil resistance4, apoptosis and necrosis7, autophagy5, bacteriophages1, cell migration6, Oxaliplatin resistance3, Phage Therapy2
Received: 09 Oct 2025; Accepted: 10 Dec 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Kabwe, Ayelign, Afshar-Sterle, Buchert and Tucci. 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: Mwila Kabwe
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