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Updated: Jul 10, 2026
A Method to Define the Effects of Environmental Enrichment on Colon Microbiome Biodiversity in a Mouse Colon Tumor Model
Published on: February 28, 2018
Enriched pathways in gut microbiome predict response to immune checkpoint inhibitor treatment across demographic
Xunhui Cai1, Jennifer Y Cho2,3, Lijun Chen1
1Institute of Pathology, Tongji Hospital, Department of Pathology, School of Basic Medicine, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
Abstract:
Understanding the effect of gut microbiota function on immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) responses is urgently needed. Here, we integrated 821 fecal metagenomes from 12 datasets to identify differentially abundant genes and construct random forest models to predict ICI response. Gene markers demonstrated excellent predictive performance, with an average area under the curve (AUC) of 0.810. Pathway analyses revealed that quorum sensing (QS), ABC transporters, flagellar assembly, and amino acid biosynthesis pathways were enriched between responders (R) and non-responders (NRs) across 12 datasets. Furthermore, luxS, manA, fliC, and trpB exhibited consistent changes between R and NR across 12 datasets. Follow-up microbiota transplant experiments showed that inter-species signaling by different QS autoinducer-2 (AI-2) molecules (synthesized by luxS) can act on overall community function to promote the colonization of Akkermansia muciniphila, which is associated with superior ICI responses. Together, our data highlight the role of gut microbiota function in modulating the microbiome and antitumor immunity.
