Chemodetection and response to host signals facilitate helicobacter pylori colonization of the gastric epithelium
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- Helicobacter pylori is a Gram-negative bacterium that has co-evolved with humans since the beginning of human history. It is one of the most successful human-associated microbes infecting more than half of the world's population. Chronic infection with H. pylori can lead to several disease outcomes ranging from asymptomatic colonization in the majority of those infected to gastric and peptic ulcers in about ten percent of those infected and gastric cancer in about one percent of those infected. Gastric cancer remains the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the world, which continues to motivate ongoing research to uncover novel strategies to control H. pylori infection. The human stomach is one of the most challenging environments for microorganisms due to its contents of hydrochloric acid, digestive enzymes, and antimicrobial compounds. Unlike most microbes that enter the stomach, H. pylori is able to colonize and persist in this harsh environment. It does so by sensing environmental signals that allow it to avoid the microbicidal acid in the stomach and navigate to the gastric epithelium where it is protected. This thesis elucidates the host signals that direct H. pylori to the gastric epithelium and the molecular mechanisms of how H. pylori senses and responds to gradients of these host signals. Chapter 1 highlights what is known of H. pylori's life in the stomach and the strategies that enable H. pylori to establish colonization in the stomach. In Chapter 2, I describe how H. pylori chemotax towards host metabolites emanating from the gastric epithelium. In Chapter 3, I describe H. pylori's detection and response to another important signal in the stomach -- hydrochloric acid. Chapter 2 and 3 describe two prominent chemical gradients in the stomach that help drive H. pylori to the gastric epithelium. However, there are many more gradients that haven't been thoroughly investigated. In Chapter 4, I discuss other chemicals gradients that H. pylori may be responding to in the stomach. I also summarize and consider the implications of chemotaxis to host signals in enabling H. pylori to establish colonization and persist in the stomach.
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Form | electronic; electronic resource; remote |
| Extent | 1 online resource. |
| Publication date | 2016 |
| Issuance | monographic |
| Language | English |
Creators/Contributors
| Associated with | Huang, Julie Yuk-Wah |
|---|---|
| Associated with | Stanford University, Department of Microbiology and Immunology. |
| Primary advisor | Amieva, Manuel |
| Thesis advisor | Amieva, Manuel |
| Thesis advisor | Falkow, Stanley |
| Thesis advisor | Monack, Denise M |
| Thesis advisor | Sonnenburg, Justin, 1973- |
| Thesis advisor | Spormann, Alfred M |
| Advisor | Falkow, Stanley |
| Advisor | Monack, Denise M |
| Advisor | Sonnenburg, Justin, 1973- |
| Advisor | Spormann, Alfred M |
Subjects
| Genre | Theses |
|---|
Bibliographic information
| Statement of responsibility | Julie Yuk-Wah Huang. |
|---|---|
| Note | Submitted to the Department of Microbiology and Immunology. |
| Thesis | Thesis (Ph.D.)--Stanford University, 2016. |
| Location | electronic resource |
Access conditions
- Copyright
- © 2016 by Julie Yuk-Wah Huang
- License
- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC).
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