VacA mediated immunomodulation

幽门螺杆菌（Hp）是一种生活在胃中的细菌，感染了世界上50%的人口。大多数感染者没有任何问题，但少数人会患上溃疡病和胃癌。Hp已经感染人类6万年了。在过去的几十年里，感染的人数已经下降，与免疫相关的疾病，如哮喘和多发性硬化症的数量已经增加，我们和其他人已经对一种重要的细菌蛋白VacA做了大量的研究，并表明它不仅影响一个人患胃病的风险，而且对免疫系统也有重要的影响。它似乎可以操纵免疫系统产生更多的调节性免疫细胞。这些细胞类型对于预防多发性硬化症等疾病非常重要。由于有许多不同类型的VacA，该项目旨在准确区分VacA基因的哪一部分，以及哪种类型的VacA对免疫系统的影响最大。这项工作非常重要，可以鼓励临床医生在考虑哪些患者需要治疗Hp时考虑所有潜在影响，以确保它不会在人群中被消灭。将来，一种类似于VacA的分子可能被用作治疗多发性硬化症的药物。

The bacteria Helicobacter pylori (Hp) lives in the stomach, infecting 50% of the world's population. The majority of those infected do not suffer with any problems, but a small number develop ulcer disease and stomach cancers. Hp has infected the human population for 60,000 years. Over the last few decades, numbers of people infected have declined, and numbers of immune related diseases such as asthma and multiple sclerosis have increased.We and others have done much research into an important bacterial protein, VacA, and shown that it not only influences a persons risk of developing gastric disease but also that it has an important impact on the immune system. It appears to manipulate the immune system to produce more regulatory immune cells. These cell types are important for preventing diseases such as Multiple Sclerosis. As there are many different types of VacA, this project aims to differentiate exactly which part of the vacA gene, and which type of VacA has the most dramatic effect on the immune system. This work will be important in order to encourage clinicians to consider all the potential implications when contemplating which patients require treatment for Hp to ensure that it is not wiped out in the human population. In the future, a molecule similar to VacA could potentially be employed as a therapy against Multiple Sclerosis.