Investigating the role of blood group antigens in campylobacter infections

空肠弯曲菌是世界范围内食物中毒的最重要原因之一。它可以引起一系列疾病，从轻度腹泻到严重的腹泻样疾病。虽然这些感染通常不会危及生命，但非常常见，而且在休假时间和医疗保健相关费用方面代价高昂。偶尔弯曲杆菌病会导致非常严重的并发症，包括危及生命的神经系统疾病格林-巴利综合征。这种细菌通常生活在野生和家养动物的肠道中，特别是鸡。处理鸡只不当和未煮熟是人类感染的主要来源。目前，我们还没有很好地了解影响动物殖民或人类疾病的因素。更好地了解这些复杂的过程将是必要的，以设计新的战略，以防止殖民化的驯养动物，特别是鸡，以及人类疾病。我们已经证明了两种弯曲杆菌表面分子，称为FlaA和MOMP，参与与人类血细胞和肠细胞上的受体结合。我们建议研究这些分子介导的细菌和人类细胞之间的相互作用。我们还建议，以确定这些分子是否也是重要的鸡的殖民。所获得的信息可能会导致开发干扰这些相互作用的试剂，从而减少鸡肉的污染，并减少人类疾病。

The bacterium Campylobacter jejuni is one of the most important causes of food poisoning worldwide. It can cause a spectrum of illness from mild diarrhoea to severe dysentery-like illness. Although not normally life-threatening, these infections are very common and are costly in terms of time taken off work and healthcare-associated costs. Occasionally Campylobacter disease results in very serious complications including the life-threatening neurological disease Guillain-Barre syndrome. The bacterium normally lives in the gut of wild and domesticated animals, notably chickens. Improper handling and undercooking of chicken are major sources of human infection. At present we do not have a good understanding of the factors that affect colonisation of animals or disease in humans. A better understanding of these complex processes will be necessary to design new strategies for preventing colonisation of domesticated animals, especially chickens, as well as human disease. We have shown two Campylobacter surface molecules, called FlaA and MOMP, to be involved in binding to receptors on human blood cells and intestinal cells. We propose to characterise the interaction between the bacteria and human cells that are mediated by these molecules. We also propose to determine whether these molecules are also important in colonisation of chickens. The information gained may lead to the development of agents that interfere with these interactions, and thus reduce both contamination of chicken meat, as well as reduce human disease.