colibactin
Type: molecule Aliases: genotoxic colibactinpks+ E. coli
- Systems Analogy A bacterial toxin that damages cell DNA and increases the risk of colon tumors.
- Formal Definition A genotoxic chemical metabolite produced by Escherichia coli strains carrying the pks pathogenicity island, which induces double-strand DNA breaks and mutational signatures in host mucosal cells.
Mentioned In
- Conditioncolorectal cancer
Scientific Sources & Literature Citations
- [1] Empirical Study Pleguezuelos-Manzano C, et al. Mutational signature in colorectal cancer caused by genotoxic E. coli. Nature. 2020;580(7802):269-273. ↗
"Colibactin-producing E. coli strains induce double-stranded DNA breaks in mammalian cells."