Presence of polyketide synthase (PKS) gene and counterpart virulence determinants in Klebsiella pneumoniae strains enhances colorectal cancer progression in-vitro.

This study aims to investigate the effect of colibactin producing Klebsiella pneumoniae (PKS-positive K. pneumoniae) in enhancing colorectal cancer (CRC) cell proliferation in-vitro. The findings in this study revealed a greater enhancement of cell proliferation among CRC cell lines that are exposed to PKS-positive K. pneumoniae antigens compared to PKS-negative K. pneumoniae. In addition, certain virulence factors such as presence of genes confering siderophore production had a synergistic effect in enhancing CRC cell line proliferation. To further validate the findings, ECIS assay was performed to show that the greater enhancement of cell proliferation observed among CRC cell lines were consistent with the presence of PKS-positive K. pneumoniae exposure.