Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Tumor Progression02:07

Tumor Progression

7.2K
Tumor progression is a phenomenon where the pre-formed tumor acquires successive mutations to become clinically more aggressive and malignant. In the 1950s, Foulds first described the stepwise progression of cancer cells through successive stages.
Colon cancer is one of the best-documented examples of tumor progression. Early mutation in the APC gene in colon cells causes a small growth on the colon wall called a polyp. With time, this polyp grows into a benign, pre-cancerous tumor. Further...
7.2K
The Tumor Microenvironment02:17

The Tumor Microenvironment

7.6K
Every normal cell or tissue is embedded in a complex local environment called stroma, consisting of different cell types, a basal membrane, and blood vessels. As normal cells mutate and develop into cancer cells, their local environment also changes to allow cancer progression. The tumor microenvironment (TME) consists of a complex cellular matrix of stromal cells and the developing tumor. The cross-talk between cancer cells and surrounding stromal cells is critical to disrupt normal tissue...
7.6K

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Tumor Homing Nanoparticle Immunotherapy for Acute Clearance and Mitigation of T-cell Exhaustion in Humanized High-Risk Neuroblastoma.

Molecular cancer therapeutics·2026
Same author

AssiST: convolutional neural network for analysis of antibiotic susceptibility testing.

Bioinformatics advances·2026
Same author

Colony morphogenesis regulates sporulation dynamics in bacterial biofilms.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2026
Same author

Exosome-mediated chemotaxis optimizes leader-follower cell migration.

PLoS computational biology·2026
Same author

Decay in transcriptional information flow is a hallmark of cellular aging.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2025
Same author

Collective Dynamics of Frustrated Biological Neuron Networks.

PRX life·2025

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jan 8, 2026

Measuring Growth and Gene Expression Dynamics of Tumor-Targeted S. Typhimurium Bacteria
08:11

Measuring Growth and Gene Expression Dynamics of Tumor-Targeted S. Typhimurium Bacteria

Published on: July 6, 2013

13.3K

Bacterial population dynamics during colonization of solid tumors.

Serkan Sayin1, Motasem ElGamel2, Brittany Rosener1

  • 1Department of Systems Biology, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA, 01655, USA.

Molecular Systems Biology
|December 15, 2025
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

This study reveals how bacteria colonize tumors, showing rapid, uneven growth from a small initial population. The findings offer a new model for understanding tumor-resident bacteria and distinguishing them from contamination.

Keywords:
E. coliColonizationMicrobiomeTumorZipf’s Law

More Related Videos

Bioluminescent Bacterial Imaging In Vivo
05:06

Bioluminescent Bacterial Imaging In Vivo

Published on: November 4, 2012

15.8K
Monitoring Spatial Segregation in Surface Colonizing Microbial Populations
07:40

Monitoring Spatial Segregation in Surface Colonizing Microbial Populations

Published on: October 29, 2016

11.5K

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jan 8, 2026

Measuring Growth and Gene Expression Dynamics of Tumor-Targeted S. Typhimurium Bacteria
08:11

Measuring Growth and Gene Expression Dynamics of Tumor-Targeted S. Typhimurium Bacteria

Published on: July 6, 2013

13.3K
Bioluminescent Bacterial Imaging In Vivo
05:06

Bioluminescent Bacterial Imaging In Vivo

Published on: November 4, 2012

15.8K
Monitoring Spatial Segregation in Surface Colonizing Microbial Populations
07:40

Monitoring Spatial Segregation in Surface Colonizing Microbial Populations

Published on: October 29, 2016

11.5K

Area of Science:

  • Microbiology
  • Tumor Biology
  • Systems Biology

Background:

  • Bacterial colonization of tumors is common but poorly understood.
  • The dynamics of bacterial population growth within tumors remain largely unexplored.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the mechanisms of bacterial colonization in tumors.
  • To model bacterial population dynamics during tumor colonization.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized genetically barcoded *Escherichia coli* to track bacterial clones in murine tumors.
  • Monitored bacterial population dynamics following intravenous and intratumor injections.

Main Results:

  • Tumor colonization initiated by approximately one hundred bacteria (*E. coli*).
  • Observed rapid, highly nonuniform bacterial growth leading to a steady-state load and clone diversity within a day.
  • Bacterial progeny size distribution followed a scale-free pattern, suggesting constraints like local niche capacity and resource competition.

Conclusions:

  • Developed the first dynamical model for bacterial tumor colonization.
  • The model explains observed growth patterns through local niche limits, resource competition, and noise.
  • Findings may aid in differentiating true tumor microbiomes from contamination.