Presence of Salmonella AvrA in colorectal tumor and its precursor lesions in mouse intestine and human specimens

Evidence directly supporting an association between Salmonella infection and colorectal cancer in human subjects is sparse. It has been well recognized that Salmonella infection increases the risk of gallbladder cancer. AvrA, a bacterial protein from Salmonella enterica, plays a crucial role in establishing chronic infection. To our knowledge, the presence of the bacterial AvrA has never been studied in human samples. Here, we demonstrated the presence and cellular localization of AvrA in inflamed, colorectal tumor and its precursor lesions, using both animal experimental infection models and human clinical specimens. We performed a newly developed AvrA serological assay and to determine the presence of anti-Salmonella AvrA antibody in chronic infected mouse serum samples. Further, we tested the presence of AvrA gene in healthy human fecal samples, in order to advance etiological studies of Salmonella AvrA in human population. Our study suggests a potential role of this bacterial protein in human colorectal cancer. Moreover, our new serological assay may serve a useful tool to identify individuals at increased risk for colorectal cancer.