Gut Feeling

The gastrointestinal mucosa is constantly exposed to food antigens and bacteria antigens from microbial flora 1. This presents a challenging task to the immune system: how to maintain tolerance to the food and ‘harmless’ bacteria antigens while remaining vigilant to potential pathogens?

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common cancer worldwide, the fourth most common cause of cancer-related deaths, and the incidence is increasing in adults younger than 50. If colon cancer is localized, the five-year survival rate is 90%; if the cancer has spread to other organs – metastasized – the five-year survival rate drops to 14%. Consequently, it is crucial to understand how this deadly event occurs. To investigate this, we are using the fruit fly gut to mimic colon cancer then searching for new genes that can promote metastasis.