We have several research projects related to these two topics, the largest being the project "prediagnostic serum profiling in colorectal cancer". Here, we aim to discover new serum small RNAs that can predict CRC diagnosis months and years prior to clinical diagnosis.

To achieve this goal, we use serum samples from the prospective biobanks The HUNT Study in Norway and Borealis in Finland. We perform high-throughput sequencing of the small RNAs and compare the expression levels between persons that are diagnosed with CRC in the near future to persons that do not get a CRC diagnosis.

We have previously investigated the role of small RNAs in CRC tissue and shown that most microRNAs (miRNAs) are dysregulated in cancer compared to normal tissue [1]. We have also shown that several miRNAs and other small RNAs are dysregulated in serum of metastatic CRC patients compared to patients with non-metastatic disease [2].

Our research is currently partly focused on understanding the role of fusobacterium in CRC progression as well as miRNAs from the EBV virus. Here we perform co-culture experiments of human CRC cell lines and bacterium and investigate the response to infection.

References

• Mjelle R, Sjursen W, Thommesen L, Saetrom P, Hofsli E. Small RNA expression from viruses, bacteria and human miRNAs in colon cancer tissue and its association with microsatellite instability and tumor location. BMC Cancer 2019, 19(1):161.
• Mjelle R, Sellaeg K, Saetrom P, Thommesen L, Sjursen W, Hofsli E. Identification of metastasis-associated microRNAs in serum from rectal cancer patients. Oncotarget 2017, 8(52):90077-90089