• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.15
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• pp.6645-6650
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• 2015

Background: Gastric cancer (GC) is the third most common cancer regarding mortality in the world. The cag pathogenicity island (PAI) of Helicobacter pylori which contains genes associated with a more aggressive phenotype may involve in the pathogenesis of gastrointestinal disease. We here aimed to examine the associations of cagH, cagL, orf17, and cagG genotypes of H. pylori cag PAI with severe gastrointestinal disease. Materials and Methods: A total of 242 H. pylori strains were genotyped. Histopathological examination and classification of subjects were performed. Results: The frequencies of the cagH, cagL, cagG, and orf17 genotypes were 40/54 (74.1%), 53/54 (98.1%), 38/54 (70.4%), and 43/54 (79.6%), respectively, in patients with peptidic ulceration (PU),while in the control group, the frequencies were 87/147 (59.6%) for cagH, 121/146 (82.9%) for cagL, 109/146 (74.7%) for cagG, and 89/146 (61.0%) for orf17. The results of simple logistic regression analysis showed that the cagL and orf17 genotypes were significantly associated with an increased risk of PU not GC; the ORs (95% CI) were 10.950 (1.446-82.935), and 2.504 (1.193-5.253), respectively. No significant association was found between the cagH and cagG genotypes and the risk of both the PU and the GC in Iran (P>0.05). Finally, multiple logistic regression analysis showed that the cagL genotype was independently and significantly associated with the age-and sex-adjusted risk for PU; the OR (95% CI) was 9.557 (1.219-17.185). Conclusions: We conclude that the orf17 and especially cagL genotypes of H. pylori cag PAI could be factors for risk prediction of PU, but not GC in Iran.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.22 no.10
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• pp.1343-1349
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• 2012

Most of the Helicobacter pylori strains containing the cag pathogenicity island (PAI) have been associated with more severe gastric disease in infected humans. The cag PAI is composed of 27 proteins, and some of the components are required for CagA translocation into host cells as well as induction of proinflammatory cytokines, such as interleukin-8 (IL-8); however, the exact function of most of the components remains unknown or poorly characterized. In this study, we demonstrated that CagT (HP0532), which is an essential structural component of the cag PAI apparatus, plays an important role in the translocation of CagA into host epithelial cells. In addition to being located on the bacterial surface, CagT is also partially localized in the inner membrane, where it acts as a chaperone-like protein and promotes CagA translocation. However, CagT secretion was not detected by immunoprecipitation analysis of cell culture supernatants. Meanwhile, CagT was related to the introduction of IL-8 of the host cell. These results suggest that CagT is expressed on both the inner and outer bacterial membranes, where it serves as a unique type IV secretion system component that is involved in CagA secretion and cag PAI apparatus assembly.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.179-185
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• 2004

Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infects more than half of the people in the world as a major microbe to cause most of gastric diseases. Recently, cytotoxin associated-antigen A (CagA) is believed as one of the most important virulence factors of H. pylori. Molecular toxicological pathway of CagA is necessary to investigate for understanding the pathological and toxicological aspects of H. pylori, since this virulence protein harasses intercellular processes of host cells to get profit for the survival of H. pylori. CagA is coded from cag pathogenicity island (cag PAI) and translocated into host cells by Type 4 secretion system (TFSS). Tyrosine phosphorylation of CagA targets Src homology 2-containing phosphotyrosine phosphatase (SHP-2) to form a CagA-SHP-2 complex. This complex depends on the similarity of sequence between EPIYA motif and Src homology 2 domain (SH2 domain) of CagA. The generation of growth factors is an essential role of CagA in protecting and healing gastric mucosa for the survival of H. pylori. On the other hand, the activation of IL-8 by CagA induces neutrophils generating inflammation and free radicals. Indeed, free radicals are well known carcinogen to induce DNA damage. In addition, the transduction of mitogen-activation signal by CagA is one of the interesting features to understand how to cause cancer. The relationship between cancer and inflammation with CagA was mainly discussed in this review.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.12-19
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• 2002

Purpose: The H. pylori cagA gene, vacA gene and iceA gene are considered to be important virurence factors that have been implicated in the development of gastric adenocarcinoma. It was reported that the presence of IS605 elements may be responsible for rearrangements and lead to partial or total deletions of the cag pathogenicity island (PAI) and the virulence of cag PAI may be changed. However, different results regarding the association between these virulence factors and clinical disease have been reported from different geographic regions. This study evaluated the relationship between H. pylori virulence factors such as cagA, vacA, iceA, IS605 and gastric adenocarcinoma. Materials and Methods: H. pylori isolates were obtained from 54 infected patients (24 cases of gastric adenocarcinoma, 30 cases of control). H. pylori isolates were identified by PCR with ureC gene and 16S rRNA. PCR was performed to examine cagA, vacA, iceA and IS605 genotypes. Results: Significant difference was found in the negative rates of cagA between gastric adenocarcinoma group and control ($62.5\%\;vs.\;33.3\%$ P=0.033). No significant difference was found in the prevalence of iceA, vacA between gastric adenocar cinoma and control. The genotype of cagA+ vacA s1-m1 iceA1 was predominant in H. pylori isolates irrespective of the clinical outcome. IS605 in PAI was not found in gastric adenocarcinoma gruop and control. The positive rates of IS605 in genome were $33.3\%$ in gastric adenocarcinoma group and $36.7\%$ in control (P>0.05). In gastric carcinoma, the positive rate of $cagA^{+}/IS605$ was lower than in control ($12.5\%\;vs\;40.0\%$, P=0.025) and the positive rate of cagA-/IS605 was higher than in control ($54.2\%\;vs\;23.3\%$, P=0.02). Conclusion: H. pylori virulence factors had not related significantly with gastric adenocarcinoma. Further study is needed to examine the specificity of H. pylori strains.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.410-418
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• 2021

Helicobacter pylori causes chronic gastritis through cag pathogenicity island (cagPAI), vacuolating cytotoxin A (VacA), lipopolysaccharides (LPS), and flagellin as pathogen-related molecular patterns (PAMPs), which, in combination with the pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) of host cells promotes the expression and secretion of inflammation-causing cytokines and activates innate immune responses such as inflammasomes. To identify useful compounds against H. pylori-associated gastric disorders, the effect of chalcone derivatives to activate the nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain (NOD)-like receptor family, pyrin domain-containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome was examined in an H. pylori-infected human monocytic THP-1 cell line in this study. Among the five synthetic structurally-related chalcone derivatives examined, 2'-hydroxy-4',6'-dimethoxychalcone (8) and 2'-hydroxy-3,4,5-trimethoxychalcone (12) strongly blocked the NLRP3 inflammasome in H. pylori-infected THP-1 cells. At 10 μM, these compounds inhibited the production of active IL-1β, IL-18, and caspase-1, and apoptosis-associated speck-like protein containing a caspase recruitment domain (ASC) oligomerization, but did not affect the expression levels of NLRP3, ASC, and pro-caspase-1. The interruption of NLRP3 inflammasome activation by these compounds was found to be mediated via the inhibition of the interleukin-1 receptor-associated kinase 4 (IRAK4)/IκBα/NF-κB signaling pathway. These compounds also inhibited caspase-4 production associated with non-canonical NLRP3 inflammasome activation. These results show for the first time that certain chalcones could interrupt the activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome in H. pylori-infected THP-1 cells. Therefore, these chalcones may be helpful in alleviating H. pylori-related inflammatory disorders including chronic gastritis.