Biology subjects

Truscello, L.

Publications and source records attributed to Truscello, L..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2026

Altered Crosstalk of Bacterial Lipopolysaccharide with Immune Cells in Colorectal Cancer Compared to Paired Adjacent Intestinal Tissue

Commensal bacteria play a crucial role in modulating human immune responses in the intestine. Under homeostatic conditions, gut microbiota are tightly regulated by interactions with the mucosal immune system. However, colorectal cancer (CRC) is characterized by an imbalance in bacterial composition and bacterial translocation across the intestinal barrier. The spatial distribution of bacteria and their interactions with immune cells in CRC tumors are poorly understood. By applying 3D light-sheet imaging, spatial transcriptomics, and imaging mass cytometry to patient-derived CRC and adjacent tissue, bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is visualized alongside immune cells and vessels. The results show regional bacterial LPS accumulation and colocalization with distinct immune cell subsets. In CRC-adjacent tissue, bacterial LPS is mainly associated with CD11c+ dendritic cells, CD15+ neutrophils, and CD163+ macrophages. In matched CRC tissue, the number and LPS colocalization of CD163+ macrophages and CD11c+ dendritic cells decreased, while CD15+ neutrophils and their colocalization with LPS increased. Notably, immune cell composition and immune cell-bacteria interactions differ between tumor and adjacent tissue, offering insights into host-microbiota dynamics and mechanistic interactions.

cancer biology↗

bioRxiv2024

Blood-borne immune cells carry low biomass DNA remnants of microbes in patients with colorectal cancer or inflammatory bowel disease

The involvement of the human intestinal microbiome in the regulation of immune cell homeostasis, as well as in the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and colorectal cancer (CRC), are well-established1-4. Bacteria interact with immune cells at the sites of intestinal inflammation, but also in the CRC tumor microenvironment1-6. Indeed, bacterial remnants have recently been detected in human intestinal tissue in patients with IBD, at primary tumor sites and in the metastases of patients with CRC, and in whole blood3,7,8. A defective intestinal epithelial barrier is thought to promote bacterial remnant translocation and disease progression6. However, it is unknown, how bacterial remnants translocate from the intestine to sites of metastasis or into the circulation. We hypothesized that bacterial remnants translocate within peripheral blood immune cells into the circulation. Here, we thus explored the composition of the detectable microbiome in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of patients with CRC or IBD compared to healthy controls. The PBMC microbiome profiles partially align with the tumor- and metastasis-derived or intestinal tissue-derived microbiome signatures obtained from the same patients with CRC or IBD, respectively. Our metagenomics data, supported by 16S-rRNA-FISH-Flow, imaging flow cytometry and species-specific qPCR, reveal the presence of translocated bacterial genetic sequences in the patients with CRC and IBD, likely due to an intestinal barrier defect. Pathway and serum metabolomics analysis connected to the metabolic potential of the PBMC-derived microbiome sequences support the onset of microbial translocation in such patients. Thus, our data suggest that in patients with intestinal barrier leakage, such as those with CRC or IBD, there is the potential for the translocation of bacterial remnants into the circulation via peripheral immune cells.

cancer biology↗

bioRxiv2018

High cell diversity and complex peptidergic signalling underlie placozoan behaviour

Placozoans, together with sponges, are the only animals devoid of a nervous system and muscles, yet both respond to sensory stimulation in a coordinated manner. How behavioural control in these free-living animals is achieved in the absence of neurons and, more fundamentally, how the first neurons evolved from more primitive communication cells during the rise of animals is not yet understood [1-5]. The placozoan Trichoplax adhaerens is a millimeter-wide, flat, free-living marine animal composed of six morphologically identified cell types distributed across a simple bodyplan [6-9]: a flat upper epithelium and a cylindrical lower epithelium interspersed with a loose layer of fiber cells. Its genome encodes several proneuropeptide genes and genes involved in neurosecretion in animals with a nervous system [10-12]. Here we investigate neuropeptide signalling in Trichoplax adhaerens. We found specific expression of several neuropeptides in non-overlapping cell populations distributed over the three cell layers, revealing an unsuspected cell-type diversity of Trichoplax adhaerens. Using live imaging, we uncovered that treatments with 11 different neuropeptides elicited striking and consistent effects on the animals shape, patterns of movement and velocity that we categorized under three main types: (i) crinkling, (ii) turning, and (iii) flattening and churning. Together, the data demonstrate a crucial role for peptidergic signalling in nerveless placozoans and suggest that peptidergic volume signalling may have predated synaptic signalling in the evolution of nervous systems.

neuroscience↗