Lactobacillus reuteri-an old acquaintance takes on a new task in colorectal tumor surveillance.

ABSTRACT

In this issue of Cancer Cell, Bell et al. identify the commensal bacterium Lactobacillus reuteri and its major metabolite reuterin as an important gatekeeper and promising target in colorectal cancerogenesis. They decipher a metabolic interplay in which L. reuteri is suppressed by metabolites from dysplastic intestinal epithelial cells which in turn are highly sensitive to the oxidative effects of the electrophile reuterin.