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

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.

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