Duodenal ulcer promoting gene (dupA): skewing the immune response to Helicobacter pylori and hence disease pathogenesis

世界上有一半的人口被幽门螺杆菌（Hp）感染，这种细菌在人类的胃中存活。这是溃疡病和胃癌的重要原因，尽管大多数携带细菌的人都是健康的。不同的Hp菌株有不同的基因，其中一些基因与疾病有关，被称为细菌毒力因子。该项目将有助于确定一种名为dupA的新的Hp毒力因子是否可以解释为什么有些人会发生溃疡，特别是小肠第一部分的溃疡（十二指肠溃疡）。带有dupA的Hp菌株也可以保护人们免受癌症的发展。大多数先前研究的细菌毒力因子被发现会影响构成胃壁的细胞。我们认为dupA作用于免疫系统的细胞，因此可能会改变一个人的身体对抗感染的方式，使他们更容易患上十二指肠溃疡。我们计划从接受内窥镜检查的患者的胃中收集小组织样本，并研究未感染和感染患者的免疫系统如何反应。我们希望这项研究将有助于我们更全面地了解Hp感染如何促进溃疡的发展。

Half the world‘s population is infected by the bacteria Helicobacter pylori (Hp), which survives in the human stomach. This is an important cause of ulcer disease and stomach cancer, though the majority of people who carry the bacteria are healthy. Different Hp strains have different genes, some of which are associated with disease and are called bacterial virulence factors. This project will help establish whether a new Hp virulence factor called dupA might explain why some people develop ulcers, specifically ulcers in the first part of the small bowel (duodenal ulcers). Hp strains with dupA may also protect people against developing cancer. Most previously studied bacterial virulence factors have been found to affect the cells that make up the stomach wall. We think that dupA works on the cells of the immune system instead and so may change how a person‘s body fights the infection to predispose them to develop duodenal ulcers. We plan to collect small tissue samples from the stomach of patients having an endoscopy and study how the immune system responds in uninfected and infected patients.We hope that this research will help us to more fully understand how Hp infection contributes to the development of ulcers.