Cutibacterium acnes invades prostate epithelial cells to induce BRCAness as a possible pathogen of prostate cancer

Abundant evidence suggests that chronic inflammation is linked to prostate cancer and that infection is a possible cause of prostate cancer.

To identify microbiota or pathogens associated with prostate cancer, we investigated the transcriptomes of 20 human prostate cancer tissues. We performed de novo assembly of nonhuman sequences from RNA-seq data.

We identified four bacteria as candidate microbiota in the prostate, including Moraxella osloensis, Uncultured chroococcidiopsis, Cutibacterium acnes, and Micrococcus luteus. Among these, C. acnes was detected in 19 of 20 prostate cancer tissue samples by immunohistochemistry. We then analyzed the gene expression profiles of prostate epithelial cells infected in vitro with C. acnes and found significant changes in homologous recombination (HR) and the Fanconi anemia pathway. Notably, electron microscopy demonstrated that C. acnes invaded prostate epithelial cells and localized in perinuclear vesicles, whereas analysis of γH2AX foci and HR assays demonstrated impaired HR repair. In particular, BRCA2 was significantly downregulated in C. acnes-infected cells.

These findings suggest that C. acnes infection in the prostate could lead to HR deficiency (BRCAness) which promotes DNA double-strand breaks, thereby increasing the risk of cancer development.