Streptococcus anginosus extracellular vesicles deliver protein to promote gastric cancer progression.

Authors

Feng Li, Xiling Chen, Hao Huang, Xiaowei Sun, Maoyuan Wang, Haoyuan Xie, Jian Xie, Yunrui Dong, Weize Li, Meiyan Wu, Hongying Fan, Yang Bai

Published in

Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology. Volume 16. Pages 1917293. Epub Sep 30, 2026.

Abstract

Gastric cancer (GC) is a leading cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide. Although Helicobacter pylori (Hp) is considered a major etiological factor, only 3% of Hp-infected individuals develop GC, implying additional microbial drivers. Streptococcus anginosus (SA) exhibits independent pro-carcinogenic properties, but its mechanism in regulating GC malignant phenotypes remains elusive. This study investigated the roles and molecular mechanisms of SA-derived extracellular vesicles (SA-EVs) in GC progression.
SA-EVs were isolated and characterized, followed by in vitro and in vivo functional assays, transcriptomic analysis and rescue experiments to explore their pro-tumor effects and key components.
SA-EVs were efficiently internalized by GC cells, which markedly promoted GC cell proliferation, migration and invasion in vitro, and accelerated tumor growth in vivo. Mechanistically, the protein cargos of SA-EVs specifically triggered the activation of the JAK-STAT signaling pathway, which further upregulated the expression of genes associated with cell proliferation and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). Moreover, pharmacological inhibition experiments verified that removal of SA-EV protein components or pharmacological blockade of JAK-STAT signaling effectively eliminate the pro-tumor effects of SA-EVs.
Streptococcus serves as a core signature genus in Hp-independent GC. SA drives GC malignancy by delivering functional proteins via EVs to activate JAK-STAT signaling. This study reveals a novel bacteria-host interaction mechanism mediated by SA-EVs, providing a potential target for GC intervention.

PMID:
42876538
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 15 Oct 2026.

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