Upon infection of the gastric epithelial cells, the Helicobacter pylori cytotoxin-associated gene A (CagA) virulence protein is injected into the epithelial cells via the type IV secretion system (TFSS), which is dependent on cholesterol. Translocated CagA is targeted by the membrane-recruited c-Src family kinases in which a tyrosine residue in the Glu-Pro-Ile-Tyr-Ala (EPIYA)-repeat region, whi...

Obesity is an important public health problem in the United States. Because of its potential effects on gastric leptin homeostasis, Helicobacter pylori may play a role in regulating body weight. The authors' aim in this study was to examine the association between H. pylori colonization and overweight status. Nonpregnant participants in the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey...

Infection with cagA-positive Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is associated with atrophic gastritis, peptic ulcer, and gastric adenocarcinoma. The cagA gene product CagA is translocated from H. pylori into gastric epithelial cells and undergoes tyrosine phosphorylation by Src family kinases (SFKs). Tyrosine-phosphorylated CagA binds and activates SHP-2 phosphatase and the C-terminal Src kinase (...

Gut microbiota facilitate many aspects of human health and development, but dysbiotic microbiota can promote hyperplasia and inflammation and contribute to human diseases such as cancer. Human patients infected with the gastric cancer-causing bacterium Helicobacter pylori have altered microbiota; however, whether dysbiosis contributes to disease in this case is unknown. Many H. pylori human dis...

Background/Aims Differences in the Helicobacter pylori infection rate are not sufficient to clarify the dissimilarity of gastric cancer incidence between Myanmar and its neighboring countries. To better understand this trend, the H. pylori virulence gene cagA was characterized in Myanmar. Methods Glutamate-proline-isoleucine-tyrosine-alanine (EPIYA) patterns and CagA multimerization (CM) moti...

We investigated the presence of cagA-like gene of Helicobacter pylori in environmental isolates of Aeromonas spp. from different water samples of Calcutta, India, by colony hybridization using a cagA-specific DNA probe and by PCR with cagA-specific primers. Nucleotide sequencing of five PCR products revealed 97 to 98% homology to canonical cagA of H. pylori 26695 as well as to four clinical H. ...

Chronic infection with the Gram-negative bacterium Helicobacter pylori is a major risk factor for the development of gastric cancer. Accumulating evidence indicates that the H. pylori virulence determinant cytotoxin-associated gene A (CagA) has a key oncogenic role in the process. Certain biological activities of CagA require its tyrosine phosphorylation by host cell kinases. In this issue of t...

AIMS To determine the relation among the cytotoxin associated gene (cagA) and vacuolating cytotoxin gene (vacA) status of Helicobacter pylori isolates, the associated clinical diseases, and the severity and pattern of chronic gastritis. METHODS Helicobacter pylori was cultured from gastric biopsies obtained from dyspeptic patients. DNA was extracted from the isolates and the cagA and vacA sta...