Consistent with previous reports showing that UNC5C is not expressed in colon cancer cell lines and patient samples due to promoter methylation [32, 33], transfection of miR-29b-2-5p mimic in HCT-8 colon cancer cells did not affect Shigella binding to host cells (Figs 4H, 4J and S6E). Here, UNC5C is linked to malignant colon neoplasm.