Project description:Helicobacter pylori colonizes the stomach of half of the world's population, causing a wide spectrum of disease ranging from asymptomatic gastritis to ulcers to gastric cancer. Although the basis for these diverse clinical outcomes is not understood, more severe disease is associated with strains harboring a pathogenicity island. To characterize the genetic diversity of more and less virulent strains, we examined the genomic content of 15 H. pylori clinical isolates by using a whole genome H. pylori DNA microarray. We found that a full 22% of H. pylori genes are dispensable in one or more strains, thus defining a minimal functional core of 1281 H. pylori genes. While the core genes encode most metabolic and cellular processes, the strain-specific genes include genes unique to H. pylori, restriction modification genes, transposases, and genes encoding cell surface proteins, which may aid the bacteria under specific circumstances during their long-term infection of genetically diverse hosts. We observed distinct patterns of the strain-specific gene distribution along the chromosome, which may result from different mechanisms of gene acquisition and loss. Among the strain-specific genes, we have found a class of candidate virulence genes identified by their coinheritance with the pathogenicity island. Keywords: other
Project description:In this study, a whole-genome CombiMatrix Custom oligonucleotide tiling microarray with 90000 probes covering six sequenced Helicobacter pylori(H. pylori) genomes was designed and utilized for comparative genomic profiling of eight unsequenced strains isolated from patients with different gastroduodenal diseases in Heilongjiang province of China. Since significant genomic variation were found among these strains, an additional 76 H. pylori stains with different clinical outcomes isolated from various provinces of China were further tested by PCR to demonstrate this distinction. We observed several highly variable regions among strains of gastritis, gastric ulceration and gastric cancer. They are involved in genes associated with bacterial type I, type II and type III R-M system as well as in a virB gene neighboring the well studied cag pathogenic island. Previous studies have reported the diverse genetic characterization of this pathogenic island, but it is conserved in the strains tested by microarray in this study. Moreover, a number of genes involved in the type IV secretion system related to DNA horizontal transfer between H. pylori strains were identified based on the comparative analysis of the strain specific genes. These findings may provide new insights for discovering biomarkers for prediction of gastric diseases.
Project description:Helicobacter pylori causes chronic gastritis and avoids elimination by the immune system of the infected host. The commensal bacterium Lactobacillus acidophilus has been reported to exert beneficial effects as a supplement during H. pylori eradication therapy. In the present study, we applied whole genome microarray analysis to compare the immune response induced in murine bone marrow derived macrophages (BMDM) stimulated with L. acidophilus, H. pylori, or with both bacteria in combination
Project description:To distinguish between Helicobacter pylori isolates that may cause greater disease in patients, we used whole genome expression profiling as a platform to study host-pathogen interactions and identify gene signatures associated with isolates from patients with higher cancer risk.
Project description:Helicobacter pylori colonizes the stomach of half of the world's population, causing a wide spectrum of disease ranging from asymptomatic gastritis to ulcers to gastric cancer. Although the basis for these diverse clinical outcomes is not understood, more severe disease is associated with strains harboring a pathogenicity island. To characterize the genetic diversity of more and less virulent strains, we examined the genomic content of 15 H. pylori clinical isolates by using a whole genome H. pylori DNA microarray. We found that a full 22% of H. pylori genes are dispensable in one or more strains, thus defining a minimal functional core of 1281 H. pylori genes. While the core genes encode most metabolic and cellular processes, the strain-specific genes include genes unique to H. pylori, restriction modification genes, transposases, and genes encoding cell surface proteins, which may aid the bacteria under specific circumstances during their long-term infection of genetically diverse hosts. We observed distinct patterns of the strain-specific gene distribution along the chromosome, which may result from different mechanisms of gene acquisition and loss. Among the strain-specific genes, we have found a class of candidate virulence genes identified by their coinheritance with the pathogenicity island.
Project description:Helicobacter pylori infection reprograms host gene expression and influences various cellular processes, which have been investigated by cDNA microarray in vitro culture cells and in vivo patients of the chronic abdominal complaint. In this study,the effects of H. pylori infection on host gene expression in the gastric antral mucosa of patients with chronic gastritis were examined.
Project description:Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infects nearly half of the global population. H. pylori infection is associated with various gastric diseases and is a recognized causative factor for gastric cancer. The mechanisms underlying the persistent colonization of H. pylori and its role in the development and progression of gastritis-associated carcinogenesis remain unclear. To investigate the pathogenic mechanisms of H. pylori infection, we performed RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) on H. pylori-infected gastric epithelial cells and analyzed the gene expression patterns induced by H. pylori infection, aiming to provide critical insights for understanding its disease-driving pathways.