Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40023602›Full record

ArticleThe Journal of pharmacology and experimental therapeutics2025

Unlocking the potential: FKK6 as a microbial mimicry-based therapy for chronic inflammation-associated colorectal cancer in a murine model.

Lucia Sládeková, Hao Li, Vera M DesMarais, Amanda P Beck, Hillary Guzik, Barbora Vyhlídalová, Haiwei Gu, Sridhar Mani, Zdenek Dvořák

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in The Journal of pharmacology and experimental therapeutics, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Review
  2. Mechanisms and Therapeutic Advances of PXR in Metabolic Diseases and Cancer.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025
    Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Lucia SládekováDepartment of Cell Biology and Genetics, Faculty of Science, Palacký University, Olomouc, Czech Republic.
Hao LiDepartment of Medicine and Genetics, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York.
Vera M DesMaraisDepartment of Cell Biology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York; Analytical Imaging Facility, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York.
Amanda P BeckDepartment of Pathology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York.
Hillary GuzikAnalytical Imaging Facility, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York.
Barbora VyhlídalováDepartment of Cell Biology and Genetics, Faculty of Science, Palacký University, Olomouc, Czech Republic.
Haiwei GuArizona Metabolomics Laboratory, College of Health Solutions, Arizona State University, Phoenix, Arizona.
Sridhar ManiDepartment of Medicine and Genetics, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York.
Zdenek DvořákDepartment of Cell Biology and Genetics, Faculty of Science, Palacký University, Olomouc, Czech Republic. Electronic address: zdenek.dvorak@upol.cz.

Funding

WORD PROCESSORP30CA013330 · NCI · YESHIVA UNIVERSITY · PI Ulrich Steidl · 1985 to 2026
$111.2M
High Speed, High Resolution Slide Scanner for Research in Translational MedicineS10OD026852 · OD · ALBERT EINSTEIN COLLEGE OF MEDICINE · PI CONDEELIS, JOHN S · 2022 to 2022
$472k
NCI NIH HHS P30 CA013330NIH HHS S10 OD026852
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Chronic intestinal inflammation significantly contributes to the development of colorectal cancer and remains a pertinent clinical challenge, necessitating novel therapeutic approaches. Indole-based microbial metabolite mimics Felix Kopp Kortagere 6 (FKK6), which is a ligand and agonist of the pregnane X receptor (PXR), was recently demonstrated to have PXR-dependent anti-inflammatory and protective effects in a mouse model of dextran sodium sulfate (DSS)-induced acute colitis. Here, we examined the therapeutic potential of FKK6 in a mouse model (C57BL/6 FVB humanized PXR mice) of colitis-associated colon cancer (CAC) induced by azoxymethane and DSS. FKK6 (2 mg/kg) displayed substantial antitumor activity, as revealed by reduced size and number of colon tumors, improved colon histopathology, and decreased expression of tumor markers (c-MYC, β-catenin, Ki-67, and cyclin D) in the colon. In addition, we carried out a chronic toxicity (30 days) assessment of FKK6 (1 mg/kg and 2 mg/kg) in C57BL/6 mice. Histological examination of tissues, biochemical blood analyses, and immunohistochemical staining for Ki-67 and γ-H2AX showed no difference between FKK6-treated and control mice. Comparative metabolomic analyses in mice exposed for 5 days to DSS and administered with FKK6 (0.4 mg/kg) revealed no significant effects on several classes of metabolites in the mouse fecal metabolome. Ames and micronucleus tests showed no genotoxic and mutagenic potential of FKK6 in vitro. In conclusion, anticancer effects of FKK6 in azoxymethane/DSS-induced CAC, together with FKK6 safety data from in vitro tests and in vivo chronic toxicity study, and comparative metabolomic study, are supportive of the potential therapeutic use of FKK6 in the treatment of CAC. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT: Microbial metabolite mimicry proposes that chemical mimics of microbial metabolites that serve to protect hosts against aberrant inflammation in the gut could serve as a new paradigm for the development of drugs targeting inflammatory bowel disease if, like the parent metabolite, is devoid of toxicity but more potent against the microbial metabolite receptor. We identified a chemical mimic of Felix Kopp Kortagere 6, and we propose that Felix Kopp Kortagere 6 is devoid of toxicity yet significantly reduces tumor formation in an azoxymethane-dextran sodium sulfate model of murine colitis-induced colon cancer.

Indexed as

Colorectal NeoplasmsIndolesInflammationAnimalsAzoxymethaneChronic DiseaseColitisDextran SulfateDisease Models, AnimalHumansMaleMiceMice, Inbred C57BLAzoxymethaneDextran SulfateIndolesColon cancerInflammationMicrobial metabolitesPregnane X receptor

Identifiers

PMID40023602
PMCPMC13095434

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.