Ting Fu, PhD, MPVM, MS
The Impact of Microbial Bile Acids on Intestinal Health
Abstract
Colon cancer is characterized by a prominent dynamic interaction between host and gut microbes through secondary metabolites such as bile acids, which have been shown to promote tumor initiation and progression, facilitate inflammation, and reshape the gut microbiota community. The research proposed here aims to better understand how specific microbial bile acids whose levels are elevated in colon cancer mice and upon high-fat diet feeding, such as 7-oxo-DCA, 3-oxo-DCA, and iso-DCA, impact tumorigenesis in vivo. This integrative approach to interrogate this dynamic host-and-microbe interaction, focusing on their communicating metabolites, will shed light on not only the etiology of toxic bile acids-induced colon cancer but also identify new therapeutic targets and biomarkers.
Watch: Q&A with Dr. Fu
This generous grant will offer the crucial financial backing needed to advance drug discovery research within my newly founded laboratory, focusing on the identification of new microbial bile acids as potential treatments for colorectal cancer.
