Project description:In the proposed study, investigators will conduct a 90-day dietary intervention study in human subjects. Thirty individuals at risk for adenomatous colon polyp formation will be randomized to receive a calcium and multi-mineral-rich natural product (Aquamin) or a comparable level of calcium alone. There will also be a placebo group. Prior to ingesting the study agents and following the course of treatment, colonic biopsies will be obtained by sigmoidoscopy and quantitatively examined for markers of growth and differentiation. In this study, metabolomic and microbial profiles will also be generated from fecal and colon mucosal samples taken at baseline and study endpoint.
Project description:Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most prevalent cancers affecting humans, with a complex genetic and environmental aetiology. Unlike cancers with known environmental, heritable, or sex-linked causes, sporadic CRC is hard to foresee and has no molecular biomarkers of risk in clinical use. One in twenty CRC cases presents with an established heritable component. The remaining cases are sporadic and associated with partially obscure genetic, epigenetic, regenerative, microbiological, dietary, and lifestyle factors. To tackle this complexity, we should improve the practice of colonoscopy, which is recommended uniformly beyond a certain age, to include an assessment of biomarkers indicative of individual CRC risk. Ideally, such biomarkers will be causal to the disease and potentially modifiable upon dietary or therapeutic interventions. Multi-omics analysis, including transcriptional, epigenetic as well as metagenomic, and metabolomic profiles, are urgently required to provide data for risk analyses. The aim of this article is to provide a perspective on the multifactorial derailment of homeostasis leading to the initiation of CRC, which may be explored via multi-omics and Gut-on-Chip analysis to identify much-needed predictive biomarkers.
Project description:Colorectal cancer were diagnosed by colonoscopy and pathology and collected at after surgery.The colorectal cacner proteomes were analyzed for 6 normal mucosal tissues and 6 colorectal cancer mucosal tissues by liquid-chromatography mass spectrometry
Project description:In order to determine whether dis-regulation of a genetic pathway could explain the increased apoptosis of parp-2-/- double positive thymocytes, the gene expression profiles in double positive thymocytes derived from wild-type and parp-2-/- mice were analysed using Affymetrix oligonucleotide chips (mouse genome 430 2.0).
Project description:Our studies in mice have suggested that the immunological microenvironment of preneoplastic lesions could determine their fate toward neoplasia or regression. A role for gastrointestinal tract bacteria antigens in modulating cancer-related immune responses in the tumor micro- and macro-environment is emerging, thus opening new possibilities for colon cancer prevention.