Is a hijacker able to drive cancer cell proliferation?

The pathophysiological mechanisms of infection are multifactorial and not completely understood. Some advances achieved recently revealed that the infection by induces cytoskeleton remodeling and actin reorganization through the implication of several intracellular signals involving, for example, PI3K, Src, Cdc42 and GTPases. It has also been reported that the infection by leads to the activation of NF-κβ, known to induce anti-apoptotic mechanisms and to transmit oncogenic signals to epithelial cells. Despite the growing evidence about the hijacking of cellular pathways, potentially being involved in cancer onset, this information has rarely been linked to the tumorigenic potential of the parasite. However, several evidences support an association between infection and the development of digestive neoplasia. To explore the dynamics of infection, an animal model of cryptosporidiosis using corticoid dexamethasone-treated adult SCID (severe combined immunodeficiency) mice, orally infected with or oocysts was implemented. -infected animals developed digestive adenocarcinoma. When mechanisms involved in this neoplastic process were explored, the pivotal role of the Wnt pathway together with the alteration of the cytoskeleton was confirmed. Recently, a microarray assay allowed the detection of cancer-promoting genes and pathways highly up regulated in the group of infected animals when compared to non-infected controls. Moreover, different human cases/control studies reported significant higher prevalence of infection among patients with recently diagnosed colon cancer before any treatment when compared to the control group (patients without colon neoplasia but with persistent digestive symptoms). These results suggest that is a potential oncogenic agent involved in cancer development beyond the usual suspects. If is able to hijack signal transduction, then is very likely that this contributes to transformation of its host cell. More research in the field is required in order to identify mechanisms and molecular factors involved in this process and to develop effective treatment interventions.