Multi-omics analysis reveals the association between intratumoral bacteria and somatic mutational signatures in oral squamous cell carcinoma

作者：Yunmei Dong, Maofeng Qing, Yu Zhang, Bing Yang, Hangyu Zhou, Delin Xia, Qingshu Li, Richard D. Cannon, Ping Ji, Xin Jin · 发表于：Journal of Translational Medicine · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.1186/s12967-025-07500-4 · 被引用次数：8 · 研究领域：Head and Neck Cancer Studies、Oral Health Pathology and Treatment、Glutathione Transferases and Polymorphisms

BACKGROUND: Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) poses significant challenges with its obscure etiology and poor prognosis. Intratumoral bacteria exert a significant influence on the progression of OSCC. Nonetheless, the precise composition and role of the intratumoral bacteria in OSCC patients remain obscure and the association between the intratumoral bacteria and somatic mutational signatures in OSCC patients has not been defined. METHODS: Paraffin-embedded tumors and adjacent normal tissues were collected retrospectively from OSCC patients. A five-region 16S rRNA gene sequencing (5R 16S rRNA-seq) approach (targeting V2, V3, V5, V6, and V8) was employed to characterize the intratumoral bacterial composition of OSCC patients, while whole-exome sequencing (WES) was utilized to identify the somatic mutational signatures of OSCC patients. Then, the multi-omics data were integrated to uncover the association between intratumoral bacterial composition and somatic mutational signatures in OSCC patients. Key findings were validated using fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) on tissue microarrays. RESULTS: We found significant differences in bacterial profiles between tumors and adjacent normal tissues. The diversity of the bacteria was less within tumor tissues and anaerobic bacteria and periodontopathogens (e.g., Dialister pneumosintes and Prevotella intermedia) were more prevalent in tumor tissues. And the presence of Dialister pneumosintes within tumor tissues is associated...