[Bacterial infections as seen from the eukaryotic genome: DNA double strand breaks, inflammation and cancer]

An increasing number of studies report that infection by pathogenic bacteria alters the host genome, producing highly hazardous DNA double strand breaks for the eukaryotic cell. Even when DNA repair occurs, it often leaves "scars" on chromosomes that might generate genomic instability at the next cell division. Chronic intestinal inflammation promotes the expansion of genotoxic bacteria in the intestinal microbiote which in turn triggers tumor formation and colon carcinomas. Bacteria act at the level of the host DNA repair machinery. They also highjack the host cell cycle to allow themselves time for replication in an appropriate reservoir. However, except in the case of bacteria carrying the CDT nuclease, the molecular mechanisms responsible for DNA lesions are not well understood, even if reactive oxygen species released during infection make good candidates.