Mechanistic Modeling of Periodontal Pathogen Fusobacterium nucleatum-Induced Epithelial Oncogenic Transformation in Carcinomas via Selected FadA-Lactate-Angiogenesis Pathway

Abstract

Periodontal pathogens, commonly found in the normal oral flora, have been implicated in cancer progression, yet their metabolic influence remains underexplored. This study investigates the role of Fusobacterium nucleatum in tumorigenesis by modeling bacterial-induced inflammation and metabolic shifts. Using computational simulations, we analyze key enzymatic fluxes and their impact on cancer development. Our findings highlight significant lactate accumulation and subsequent VEGF upregulation, suggesting potential biomarkers for early detection and novel therapeutic targets. O_FIG O_LINKSMALLFIG WIDTH=200 HEIGHT=200 SRC="FIGDIR/small/642351v1_ufig1.gif" ALT="Figure 1"> View larger version (159K): org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@c1f975org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@e076deorg.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@9bf280org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@4dd9d1_HPS_FORMAT_FIGEXP M_FIG C_FIG