Back

Identification of potential colorectal-cancer-protective bioactive natural compounds in the human gut microbiome

Leuzzi, D.; Rampelli, S.; Savojardo, C.; Scicchitano, D.; D'Amico, F.; Frisan, T.; Martelli, P. L.; Candela, M.; Turroni, S.

2026-02-18 microbiology
10.64898/2026.02.17.706414 bioRxiv
Show abstract

Increasing evidence links the gut microbiome to the development and progression of colorectal cancer (CRC). Despite the remarkable diversity of microbial biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs), no CRC-protective bioactive natural compounds originating from gut microbiome BGCs have yet been detected. Here, we investigated BGCs within de novo gut metagenome-assembled species reconstructed from 559 individuals, including healthy controls, adenoma and CRC patients. Comparative analysis revealed distinct BGC patterns across groups, with four BGCs being significantly enriched in healthy individuals. One of these was predicted to be involved in the biosynthesis of a metabolite closely related to the anticancer compound curacin-A. Notably, this BGC was also overrepresented in healthy centenarians, suggesting a role in achieving long-term cancer-free health. Our findings highlight the importance of exploring gut microbiome BGCs as a source of novel bioactive molecules for cancer prevention and treatment, as well as for other health purposes.

Matching journals

The top 7 journals account for 50% of the predicted probability mass.

1
Frontiers in Microbiology
○ 427 papers in training set
Top 0.1%
18.7%
Similar papers in this journal
2
Gut Microbes
○ 78 papers in training set
Top 0.3%
6.8%
Similar papers in this journal
3
mSystems
● 394 papers in training set
Top 2%
5.5%
Similar papers in this journal
4
Microbiome
○ 154 papers in training set
Top 0.6%
5.5%
Similar papers in this journal
5
Environmental Microbiology
○ 133 papers in training set
Top 0.6%
5.2%
Similar papers in this journal
6
eLife
● 5828 papers in training set
Top 25%
4.9%
7
Microorganisms
○ 106 papers in training set
Top 0.4%
4.1%
50% of probability mass above
8
Genome Biology and Evolution
◐ 338 papers in training set
Top 1%
3.3%
9
Microbiology Spectrum
● 469 papers in training set
Top 4%
3.3%
10
Microbial Genomics
● 225 papers in training set
Top 1%
2.8%
11
Communications Biology
○ 993 papers in training set
Top 7%
2.7%
12
Microbial Biotechnology
○ 34 papers in training set
Top 0.3%
2.4%
13
mBio
● 833 papers in training set
Top 6%
2.4%
14
iScience
○ 1154 papers in training set
Top 17%
1.7%
15
Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology
○ 109 papers in training set
Top 2%
1.7%
16
Science of The Total Environment
○ 186 papers in training set
Top 2%
1.7%
17
npj Biofilms and Microbiomes
○ 58 papers in training set
Top 0.6%
1.5%
18
Archives of Microbiology
○ 11 papers in training set
Top 0.3%
1.3%
19
microLife
◐ 22 papers in training set
Top 0.2%
1.3%
20
ISME Communications
◐ 120 papers in training set
Top 2%
1.1%
21
BMC Genomics
○ 406 papers in training set
Top 6%
1.1%
22
Molecular Ecology
○ 336 papers in training set
Top 3%
1.1%
23
Scientific Reports
○ 3612 papers in training set
Top 66%
1.1%
24
Environmental Microbiology Reports
○ 31 papers in training set
Top 0.8%
0.9%
25
MicrobiologyOpen
○ 24 papers in training set
Top 0.5%
0.9%
26
Computational and Structural Biotechnology Journal
● 242 papers in training set
Top 8%
0.6%
27
mSphere
● 302 papers in training set
Top 7%
0.6%
28
Microbiological Research
○ 22 papers in training set
Top 0.8%
0.6%
29
Nature Communications
○ 5641 papers in training set
Top 58%
0.6%
30
Genes
○ 144 papers in training set
Top 4%
0.6%

"Similar papers" are the closest papers from that journal in the model's embedding space. They show what the match is built on, but the ranking comes mostly from a classifier over the whole training set, not from these examples alone.