Computational prediction of Escherichia coli proteins host subcellular targeting and their implications in colorectal cancer etiology

• Colorectal cancer cells are colonized by enteroinvasive Escherichia coli.
• These bacteria are more strongly associated with host cells.
• Bacterial proteins can be released in host cells and targeted to subcellular compartments.
• These proteins can play a variety of roles in E. coli induced colorectal cancer etiology.

Recent evidences indicate potential Escherichia coli involvement in colorectal cancer etiology. Colorectal cancer cells are exclusively colonized by enteroinvasive E. coli, which regulates several factors that can affect colorectal cancer progression in susceptible individuals. Earlier, we predicted nuclear targeting of E. coli proteins and their role in colorectal cancer etiology. In this study, we predict targeting of E. coli proteins in host cell mitochondria and cytoplasm and their role in colorectal cancer. Several important biological processes are regulated in the cell cytoplasm and mitochondria, where the targeting of E. coli proteins may have several possible implications. A total of 87/561 and 315/561 E. coli proteins were found to target host cell mitochondria and cytoplasm respectively. These include several proteins with the ability to influence normal growth behavior. The current article provides an outline for E. coli protein targeting in host cells and suggests that these proteins can contribute to the colorectal cancer etiology through a variety of strategies.