A collaborative study by research groups from the VIB-UGent Center for Inflammation Research and Ghent University uncovered a new mechanism causing colorectal cancer.
The researchers found that abnormal expression of the protein Zeb2 affects the integrity of the intestinal wall or ‘epithelium’.
This epithelium normally functions as a barrier to prevent infiltration by intestinal microbes. Zeb2 undermines this barrier and allows infiltrating bacteria to cause inflammation that drives cancer progression.
