Mycoplasma hyorhinis-encoded cytidine deaminase efficiently inactivates cytosine-based anticancer drugs

•Mycoplasmas may colonize tumor tissue in patients.•Mycoplasma-encoded cytidine deaminase deaminates cytosine-based anticancer drugs.•The activity of gemcitabine is compromised in mycoplasma-infected tumor cells.•Gemcitabine activity can be restored by nucleosides or a PNP inhibitor.

Mycoplasmas may colonize tumor tissue in patients. The cytostatic activity of gemcitabine was dramatically decreased in Mycoplasma hyorhinis-infected tumor cell cultures compared with non-infected tumor cell cultures. This mycoplasma-driven drug deamination could be prevented by exogenous administration of the cytidine deaminase (CDA) inhibitor tetrahydrouridine, but also by the natural nucleosides or by a purine nucleoside phosphorylase inhibitor. The M. hyorhinis-encoded CDAHyor gene was cloned, expressed as a recombinant protein and purified. CDAHyor was found to be more catalytically active than its human equivalent and efficiently deaminates (inactivates) cytosine-based anticancer drugs. CDAHyor expression at the tumor site may result in selective drug inactivation and suboptimal therapeutic efficiency.