Transcriptome of mouse strain B6.129P2-Lgr5tm1(cre/ERT2)Cle/J colonic celss on different fat/fiber diets treated with carcinogen.. Mus musculus strain:B6.129P2-Lgr5tm1(cre/ERT2)Cle/J

Transformation of stem cells is an extremely efficient route towards initiating intestinal cancer. The adult stem cells of the colon are of particular interest because they sustain self-renewal and are target cells for cancer initiating mutations. Therefore, perturbations in stem cell dynamics are generally believed to represent the earliest step towards colon tumorigenesis. Noncoding microRNAs control translation and mRNA degradation of approximately one-third of the mammalian mRNAs, and malignant cells exhibit dysregulated expression of microRNA genes. However, to date, the effect of dietary bioactive agents such as fish oil, corn oil, cellulose and pectin on microRNAs and their mRNA targets during different stages of colon cancer development has not been determined. This study was to understand how dietary bioactive agents affect the stem cells in context of initiation of cancer.

干细胞（stem cells）的转化是启动肠道癌变的极为高效的途径。结肠成体干细胞（colonic adult stem cells）尤为受学界关注，因其具备自我更新能力，同时亦是癌症起始突变的靶细胞。因此，学界普遍认为干细胞动力学紊乱是结肠肿瘤发生的初始步骤。非编码微小RNA（noncoding microRNAs）可调控约三分之一哺乳动物信使RNA（mRNA）的翻译与降解过程，而恶性肿瘤细胞中微小RNA基因的表达常出现失调。然而截至目前，诸如鱼油（fish oil）、玉米油（corn oil）、纤维素（cellulose）与果胶（pectin）等膳食生物活性物质在结肠癌发生的不同阶段对微小RNA及其mRNA靶标的调控效应仍未明确。本研究旨在探明膳食生物活性物质在癌症起始过程中对干细胞的调控作用。