{"id":69463,"date":"2024-07-31T17:24:26","date_gmt":"2024-07-31T15:24:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/?p=69463"},"modified":"2024-09-22T21:32:57","modified_gmt":"2024-09-22T19:32:57","slug":"gut-microbes-implicated-in-bladder-cancer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/science-technology\/gut-microbes-implicated-in-bladder-cancer\/","title":{"rendered":"Gut microbes implicated in bladder cancer"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<article class=\"vf-card vf-card--brand vf-card--bordered vf-u-margin__bottom--800\" default>\n  <div class=\"vf-card__content | vf-stack vf-stack--400\">\n      <h3 class=\"vf-card__heading\">\n      Summary    <\/h3>\n                <p class=\"vf-card__text\"><ul>\r\n<li>Bladder cancer is the tenth most common type of cancer worldwide and is often linked to exposure to harmful chemicals, such as those found in tobacco smoke.\r\n<\/li><li>A new study by researchers at EMBL Heidelberg and their collaborators at the University of Split, Croatia, shows that the bacteria in our guts may play an important role in bladder cancer development.\r\n<\/li><li>The scientists showed experimentally that certain gut bacteria can transform a class of carcinogens, often found in cigarette smoke, into related chemicals that accumulate in the bladder and give rise to tumours. \r\n\r\n<\/li><\/ul><\/p>\n      <\/div>\n<\/article>\n\n\n\n\n<p>Over 10 trillion microbes call our guts their home. From breaking down nutrients in our food to strengthening our immunity against pathogens, these microbes play an essential role in how we interact with the world. This includes \u2013 as shown in a new study by EMBL researchers and collaborators at the University of Split, Croatia \u2013 the way the body responds to carcinogens and develops cancer.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Carcinogens are chemicals that can cause ordinary cells to transform into cancer cells, giving rise to tumours and cancer. They can be found in a number of places, tobacco smoke being one of the most well-known sources. Researchers have previously found that if mice are exposed to the nitrosamine BBN, one of the chemicals found in tobacco smoke, they reliably develop an aggressive form of bladder cancer. This is therefore used as a common laboratory model of carcinogen-induced cancer.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jano\u0161 Terzi\u0107&#8217;s lab at the University of Split, Croatia, was studying this model when they made a curious observation. If the mice were fed antibiotics, at a dose that kills 99.9% of their gut bacteria, at the same time as they were exposed to BBN the chances of them forming tumours were much lower.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;While 90% of mice exposed to BBN went on to develop bladder tumours, only 10% of those that also received antibiotics did so. This led us to hypothesise that the gut bacteria might be involved in regulating the way BBN is processed in the body,&#8221; said Blanka Roje, co-first author of the study and PhD student at the Laboratory for Cancer Research, University of Split School of Medicine in Croatia. \u201cI\u2019ll never forget seeing BBN and BCPN bands on thin layer chromatography plates following overnight incubation of bacteria and BBN.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe decrease in tumour incidence was so dramatic that at first I doubted the results, thinking we must have made a mistake somewhere in the experiment. Consequently, we repeated the experiment five times before we finally became \u2018believers\u2019,\u201d Terzi\u0107 said. \u201cIt was fantastic to realise that with a treatment \u2013 in this case, antibiotics \u2013 we were able to abolish cancer development.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While attending a conference at EMBL Heidelberg, Terzi\u0107 met with Michael Zimmermann, a group leader at EMBL Heidelberg. The Zimmermann group specialises in using high-throughput methods to study gut microbiome functions, focusing mainly on a process called biotransformation. Biotransformation is the ability microorganisms have to alter or break down chemicals in their environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The initial meeting gave rise to a fruitful collaboration. The two groups decided to combine their expertise to understand whether and how gut bacteria affected the way mice responded to the carcinogen. Using a variety of microbiology and molecular biology methods, the researchers discovered that bacteria living in the mouse gut could convert BBN into BCPN. Like BBN, BCPN belongs to a class of compounds called nitrosamines. However, the team found that, unlike BBN, BCPN concentrates in the urinary bladder and triggers tumour formation in a microbiome-dependent manner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The researchers next studied over 500 isolated and cultured bacteria to identify the specific bacterial species involved in converting BBN to BCPN. &#8220;We found 12 species that can carry out this carcinogen biotransformation,&#8221; said Boyao Zhang, co-first author of the study and former PhD student in the Zimmermann group. &#8220;We sequenced them and were surprised to find that many of those species were skin-associated and found at relatively low abundance in the gut. We speculated that there might be some transient transfer of such bacteria from the skin to the gut as a consequence of the animals\u2019 grooming. But it was important to figure out whether these findings would also be true for humans.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Following these initial studies in mice, the scientists used human faecal samples to show that human gut bacteria can also convert BBN to BCPN. As a proof of concept, they showed that if human stool was transplanted into the intestine of a mouse that had no gut microbiome of its own, they could also convert BBN to BCPN.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, the researchers also observed large individual differences in the ability of the human gut microbiome to metabolise BBN, as well as in the bacterial species involved in the biotransformation. &#8220;We think this lays the foundation for further research to see whether a person\u2019s gut microbiome represents a predisposition for chemically induced carcinogenesis and could hence be used to predict the individual risk and potentially prevent cancer development,\u201d said Zimmermann.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThis difference in interindividual microbiota could explain why some people, despite being exposed to potential carcinogens, do not develop cancers while others do,\u201d Terzi\u0107 added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Do these findings mean antibiotics can universally prevent cancer? No, of course not, says Zimmermann. &#8220;This calls for more studies, including some that we are doing currently, to understand how the microbiome influences the metabolism of different types of carcinogens. It is also important to remember that cancer is a multifactorial disease \u2013 there is rarely a single cause.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<article class=\"vf-card vf-card--brand vf-card--striped vf-u-margin__bottom--800\" default>\n  <div class=\"vf-card__content | vf-stack vf-stack--400\">\n      <h3 class=\"vf-card__heading\">\n      Microbial Ecosystems &amp; Human Ecosystems    <\/h3>\n                <p class=\"vf-card__text\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The study aligns with EMBL&#8217;s <\/span><a class=\"vf-card_link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/programme\/research-plans\/microbial-ecosystems\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Microbial Ecosystems<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><a class=\"vf-card_link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/programme\/research-plans\/human-ecosystems\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Human Ecosystems<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> transversal themes, which were introduced in its 2022-26 Programme, <\/span><a class=\"vf-card_link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/programme\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8216;Molecules to Ecosystems&#8217;<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. The Microbial Ecosystems theme aims to explore microorganisms and their interactions with each other and with their environments, while the Human Ecosystems theme plans to take advantage of rapidly expanding human datasets to explore the gene\u2013environment interplay and its effects on human phenotypes. Learn more about these research plans <\/span><a class=\"vf-card_link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/programme\/research-plans\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">here<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n      <\/div>\n<\/article>\n\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"vf-divider\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"Italiano\"><strong>Microbi intestinali implicati nel cancro alla vescica<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Uno studio che coinvolge una ricercatrice italiana dell\u2019EMBL di Heidelberg dimostra che i batteri intestinali possono metabolizzare gli agenti cancerogeni e farli accumulare in organi distanti, portando allo sviluppo del tumore<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<article class=\"vf-card vf-card--brand vf-card--bordered vf-u-margin__bottom--800\" default>\n  <div class=\"vf-card__content | vf-stack vf-stack--400\">\n      <h3 class=\"vf-card__heading\">\n      Sintesi    <\/h3>\n                <p class=\"vf-card__text\"><ul>\r\n<li>Il cancro alla vescica \u00e8 il decimo tipo di tumore pi\u00f9 comune al mondo ed \u00e8 spesso legato all&#8217;esposizione a sostanze chimiche nocive, come quelle presenti nel fumo di tabacco.\r\n<\/li><li>Un nuovo studio condotto all&#8217;EMBL di Heidelberg &#8211; che coinvolge una ricercatrice italiana, Eleonora Mastrorilli &#8211; in collaborazione con l&#8217;Universit\u00e0 di Spalato, in Croazia, dimostra che i batteri presenti nel nostro intestino possono svolgere un ruolo importante nello sviluppo del cancro alla vescica.\r\n<\/li><li>Lo studio ha dimostrato sperimentalmente che alcuni batteri intestinali possono trasformare una classe di agenti cancerogeni, spesso presenti nel fumo di sigaretta, in sostanze chimiche correlate che si accumulano nella vescica e danno origine a tumori. <\/li><\/ul><\/p>\n      <\/div>\n<\/article>\n\n\n\n\n<p>In ogni momento della nostra vita, il nostro intestino ospita oltre 10 trilioni di microbi. Dalla scomposizione dei nutrienti presenti negli alimenti, al rafforzamento della nostra immunit\u00e0 contro gli agenti patogeni, questi microbi svolgono un ruolo essenziale per le nostre interazioni con il mondo esterno. Un nuovo studio condotto presso lo European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) di Heidelberg in collaborazione con l&#8217;Universit\u00e0 di Spalato ha investigato il ruolo di questi microbi nella risposta dell&#8217;organismo agli agenti cancerogeni e nello sviluppo del cancro.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Le sostanze cancerogene sono sostanze chimiche che possono indurre le cellule normali a trasformarsi in cellule cancerose, dando origine a tumori. Il fumo di tabacco \u00e8 una delle fonti pi\u00f9 note di queste sostanze. Era gi\u00e0 noto che topi esposti alla nitrosammina BBN, una delle sostanze chimiche presenti nel fumo di tabacco, sviluppano in modo sistematico una forma aggressiva di cancro alla vescica. Questa sostanza \u00e8 infatti utilizzata comunemente in laboratorio come modello per il cancro indotto da agenti cancerogeni.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Il gruppo di ricerca di Jano\u0161 Terzi\u0107 dell&#8217;Universit\u00e0 di Spalato, in Croazia, stava studiando questo modello quando ha fatto una curiosa osservazione: se contemporaneamente all&#8217;esposizione al BBN i topi venivano nutriti con una dose di antibiotici in grado di uccidere il 99,9% dei loro batteri intestinali, la probabilit\u00e0 che si formassero tumori era molto pi\u00f9 bassa.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cMentre il 90% dei topi esposti al BBN sviluppava tumori alla vescica, solo il 10% di quelli che ricevevano anche antibiotici lo faceva. Questo ci ha portato a ipotizzare che i batteri intestinali possano essere coinvolti nella regolazione dell\u2019effetto di BBN nell&#8217;organismo\u201d, ha dichiarato Blanka Roje, coautrice dello studio e dottoranda presso il Laboratory for Cancer Research dell&#8217;Universit\u00e0 di Spalato in Croazia.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cLa diminuzione dell&#8217;incidenza dei tumori \u00e8 stata cos\u00ec drastica che all&#8217;inizio ho dubitato dei risultati, pensando ad un errore in qualche punto dell&#8217;esperimento. Abbiamo quindi ripetuto l&#8217;esperimento cinque volte prima di crederci definitivamente\u201d, ha detto Terzi\u0107. \u201c\u00c8 stato fantastico rendersi conto che con un trattamento &#8211; in questo caso con gli antibiotici &#8211; siamo stati in grado di abolire lo sviluppo del cancro\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Durante la partecipazione a una conferenza all&#8217;EMBL di Heidelberg, Terzi\u0107 ha incontrato Michael Zimmermann, capogruppo dell&#8217;EMBL di Heidelberg. Il gruppo di Zimmermann \u00e8 specializzato nell&#8217;utilizzo di metodi ad alto rendimento per studiare le funzioni del microbioma intestinale, concentrandosi principalmente su un processo chiamato biotrasformazione. La biotrasformazione \u00e8 la capacit\u00e0 dei microrganismi di alterare o scomporre le sostanze chimiche presenti nel loro ambiente.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>L&#8217;incontro iniziale ha dato vita a una proficua collaborazione. I due gruppi hanno deciso di unire le loro competenze per capire se e come i batteri intestinali influenzino il modo in cui i topi rispondono all&#8217;agente cancerogeno. Utilizzando diversi metodi di microbiologia e biologia molecolare, i ricercatori hanno scoperto che i batteri che vivono nell&#8217;intestino dei topi possono convertire il BBN in BCPN. Come il BBN, il BCPN appartiene a una classe di composti chiamati nitrosammine. Tuttavia, il team ha scoperto che, a differenza del BBN, il BCPN si concentra nella vescica urinaria e innesca la formazione di tumori.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I ricercatori hanno poi studiato oltre 500 batteri isolati e coltivati per identificare le specie batteriche specifiche coinvolte nella conversione del BBN in BCPN. \u201cAbbiamo trovato 12 specie in grado di effettuare questa biotrasformazione cancerogena\u201d, ha dichiarato Boyao Zhang, prima autrice dello studio ed ex dottoranda del gruppo di Zimmermann. \u201cLe abbiamo sequenziate e siamo rimasti sorpresi nello scoprire che molte di queste specie erano associate alla pelle e si trovano in quantit\u00e0 relativamente bassa nell&#8217;intestino. Abbiamo ipotizzato un trasferimento transitorio di questi batteri dalla pelle all&#8217;intestino come conseguenza delle pratiche di igiene degli animali. Ma era importante capire se questi risultati fossero validi anche per gli esseri umani\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dopo questi studi iniziali sui topi, gli scienziati hanno utilizzato campioni di feci umane per dimostrare che anche i batteri intestinali umani possono convertire il BBN in BCPN. &#8220;Abbiamo potuto confermare che, sia nei topi che negli esseri umani, la conversione del BBN \u00e8 effettuata da una sottopopolazione distinta del microbiota intestinale, generalmente presente in bassa abbondanza nelle feci. A tale scopo, abbiamo mappato le specie coltivate individualmente in vitro e le comunit\u00e0 originali da cui sono state isolate usando il sequenziamento&#8221;, ha dichiarato Eleonora Mastrorilli, bioinformatica del gruppo di Zimmermann. \u201cQuesto, insieme ad altri esperimenti, ci ha consentito di concludere che la presenza e l&#8217;attivit\u00e0 di alcune specie nella comunit\u00e0 microbica \u00e8 sufficiente per la conversione del BBN nell&#8217;intestino\u201d. Come prova di concetto, hanno dimostrato che se le feci umane venivano trapiantate nell&#8217;intestino di topi privi di microbioma intestinale proprio, anch&#8217;essi potevano convertire il BBN in BCPN.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Tuttavia, i ricercatori hanno anche osservato grandi differenze individuali nella capacit\u00e0 del microbiota intestinale umano di metabolizzare il BBN, nonch\u00e9 nelle specie batteriche coinvolte nella biotrasformazione. \u201cRiteniamo che questo getti le basi per ulteriori ricerche volte a verificare se il microbioma intestinale di una persona rappresenti una predisposizione alla cancerogenesi indotta da sostanze chimiche e possa quindi essere utilizzato per prevedere il rischio individuale e potenzialmente prevenire lo sviluppo del cancro\u201d, ha dichiarato Zimmermann.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cQuesta differenza interindividuale nel microbiota potrebbe spiegare perch\u00e9 alcune persone, nonostante l&#8217;esposizione a potenziali agenti cancerogeni, non sviluppano il cancro mentre altre s\u00ec\u201d, ha aggiunto Terzi\u0107.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Questi risultati significano che gli antibiotici possono prevenire universalmente il cancro? No, ovviamente, dice Zimmermann. \u201cAbbiamo bisogno di ulteriori studi, compresi quelli che stiamo conducendo attualmente, per capire come il microbioma influenzi il metabolismo di diversi tipi di agenti cancerogeni\u201d. \u00c8 anche importante ricordare che il cancro \u00e8 una malattia multifattoriale &#8211; raramente c&#8217;\u00e8 una sola causa\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Study shows that gut bacteria can metabolise carcinogens and cause them to accumulate in distant organs, leading to tumour development.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":124,"featured_media":69469,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17591],"tags":[580,38,3620,579,5778,786,5776,233,17693,653,882],"embl_taxonomy":[9796,19417],"class_list":["post-69463","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-science-technology","tag-bacteria","tag-cancer","tag-croatia","tag-gut","tag-human-ecosystems","tag-human-microbiome","tag-microbial-ecosystems","tag-microbiome","tag-molecular-systems-biology","tag-tumour","tag-zimmermann","embl_taxonomy-embl-heidelberg","embl_taxonomy-zimmermann-group"],"acf":{"featured":true,"show_featured_image":false,"field_target_display":"embl","field_article_language":{"value":"english","label":"English"},"article_intro":"<p>Study shows that gut bacteria can metabolise carcinogens and cause them to accumulate in distant organs, leading to tumour development<\/p>\n","related_links":[{"link_description":"Zimmermann Group","link_url":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/groups\/zimmermann\/"},{"link_description":"Structural and Computational Biology Unit","link_url":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/research\/units\/structural-and-computational-biology\/"}],"source_article":[{"publication_title":"Gut microbiota carcinogen metabolism causes distal tissue tumors. ","publication_link":{"title":"","url":" https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41586-024-07754-w","target":""},"publication_authors":"Roje B., Zhang B. et al.","publication_source":"Nature","publication_date":"31 July 2024","publication_doi":"10.1038\/s41586-024-07754-w"}],"in_this_article":false,"press_contact":"EMBL Generic","article_translations":[{"translation_language":"Italiano","translation_anchor":"#Italiano"}],"languages":"","vf_locked":false},"embl_taxonomy_terms":[{"uuid":"a:3:{i:0;s:36:\"b14d3f13-5670-44fb-8970-e54dfd9c921a\";i:1;s:36:\"89e00fee-87f4-482e-a801-4c3548bb6a58\";i:2;s:36:\"ab46b6d4-71d8-49f8-b2f4-b326d4c8ea4e\";}","parents":[],"name":["EMBL Heidelberg"],"slug":"embl-heidelberg","description":"Where &gt; All EMBL sites &gt; EMBL Heidelberg"},{"uuid":"a:3:{i:0;s:36:\"302cfdf7-365b-462a-be65-82c7b783ebf7\";i:1;s:36:\"bd910dd7-0cda-4618-8bfa-d37fbda8438e\";i:2;s:36:\"5d13f823-c104-429b-836d-819ba78c22a9\";}","parents":[],"name":["Zimmermann Group"],"slug":"zimmermann-group","description":"What &gt; Molecular Systems Biology &gt; Zimmermann Group"}],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Gut microbes implicated in bladder cancer | EMBL<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Study shows that gut bacteria can change how carcinogens are metabolised and distributed in the body, leading to tumour development.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/science-technology\/gut-microbes-implicated-in-bladder-cancer\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Gut microbes implicated in bladder cancer | EMBL\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Study shows that gut bacteria can change how carcinogens are metabolised and distributed in the body, leading to tumour development.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/science-technology\/gut-microbes-implicated-in-bladder-cancer\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"EMBL\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/embl.org\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-07-31T15:24:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-09-22T19:32:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/20240729_Zimmermann_nature-wp.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Shreya Ghosh\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@embl\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@embl\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Shreya Ghosh\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"8 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/science-technology\/gut-microbes-implicated-in-bladder-cancer\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/science-technology\/gut-microbes-implicated-in-bladder-cancer\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Shreya Ghosh\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/de071e57de42c03b5f23d1e391048fb2\"},\"headline\":\"Gut microbes implicated in bladder cancer\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-07-31T15:24:26+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-09-22T19:32:57+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/science-technology\/gut-microbes-implicated-in-bladder-cancer\/\"},\"wordCount\":1790,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/science-technology\/gut-microbes-implicated-in-bladder-cancer\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/20240729_Zimmermann_nature-wp.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"bacteria\",\"cancer\",\"croatia\",\"gut\",\"human ecosystems\",\"human microbiome\",\"microbial ecosystems\",\"microbiome\",\"molecular systems biology\",\"tumour\",\"zimmermann\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Science &amp; 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