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- Munoz-Ramirez, Z. Y., et al.
(author)
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A 500-year tale of co-evolution, adaptation, and virulence:Helicobacter pyloriin the Americas
- 2021
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In: Isme Journal. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1751-7362 .- 1751-7370. ; 15:1, s. 78-92
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Helicobacter pyloriis a common component of the human stomach microbiota, possibly dating back to the speciation ofHomo sapiens. A history of pathogen evolution in allopatry has led to the development of genetically distinctH. pylorisubpopulations, associated with different human populations, and more recent admixture amongH. pylorisubpopulations can provide information about human migrations. However, little is known about the degree to which someH. pylorigenes are conserved in the face of admixture, potentially indicating host adaptation, or how virulence genes spread among different populations. We analyzedH. pylorigenomes from 14 countries in the Americas, strains from the Iberian Peninsula, and public genomes from Europe, Africa, and Asia, to investigate how admixture varies across different regions and gene families. Whole-genome analyses of 723H. pyloristrains from around the world showed evidence of frequent admixture in the American strains with a complex mosaic of contributions fromH. pyloripopulations originating in the Americas as well as other continents. Despite the complex admixture, distinctive genomic fingerprints were identified for each region, revealing novel AmericanH. pylorisubpopulations. A pan-genome Fst analysis showed that variation in virulence genes had the strongest fixation in America, compared with non-American populations, and that much of the variation constituted non-synonymous substitutions in functional domains. Network analyses suggest that these virulence genes have followed unique evolutionary paths in the American populations, spreading into different genetic backgrounds, potentially contributing to the high risk of gastric cancer in the region.
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- Quintana-Hayashi, Macarena P, et al.
(author)
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BabA-mediated adherence of pediatric ulcerogenic H-pylori strains to gastric mucins at neutral and acidic pH
- 2018
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In: Virulence. - : Informa UK Limited. - 2150-5594 .- 2150-5608. ; 9:1, s. 1699-1717
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Helicobacter pylori infection can result in non-ulcer dyspepsia (NUD), peptic ulcer disease (PUD), adenocarcinoma, and gastric lymphoma. H. pylori reside within the gastric mucus layer, mainly composed of mucins carrying an array of glycan structures that can serve as bacterial adhesion epitopes. The aim of the present study was to characterize the binding ability, adhesion modes, and growth of H. pylori strains from pediatric patients with NUD and PUD to gastric mucins. Our results showed an increased adhesion capacity of pediatric PUD H. pylori strains to human and rhesus monkey gastric mucins compared to the NUD strains both at neutral and acidic pH, regardless if the mucins were positive for Lewis b (Le(b)), Sialyl-Lewis x (SLe(x)) or LacdiNAc. In addition to babA positive strains being more common among PUD associated strains, H. pylori babA positive strains bound more avidly to gastric mucins than NUD babA positive strains at acidic pH. Binding to Le(b) was higher among babA positive PUD H. pylori strains compared to NUD strains at neutral, but not acidic, pH. PUD derived babA-knockout mutants had attenuated binding to mucins and Le(b) at acidic and neutral pH, and to SLe(x) and DNA at acidic pH. The results highlight the role of BabA-mediated adherence of pediatric ulcerogenic H. pylori strains, and points to a role for BabA in adhesion to charged structures at acidic pH, separate from its specific blood group binding activity.
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- Saraiva-Pava, K., et al.
(author)
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New NCI-N87-derived human gastric epithelial line after human telomerase catalytic subunit over-expression
- 2015
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In: World Journal of Gastroenterology. - : Baishideng Publishing Group Inc.. - 1007-9327. ; 21:21, s. 6526-6542
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- AIM: To establish a cellular model correctly mimicking the gastric epithelium to overcome the limitation in the study of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection. METHODS: Aiming to overcome this limitation, clones of the heterogenic cancer-derived NCI-N87 cell line were isolated, by stably-transducing it with the human telomerase reverse-transcriptase (hTERT) catalytic subunit gene. The clones were first characterized regarding their cell growth pattern and phenotype. For that we measured the clones' adherence properties, expression of cell-cell junctions' markers (ZO-1 and E-cadherin) and ability to generate a sustained transepithelial electrical resistance. The gastric properties of the clones, concerning expression of mucins, zymogens and glycan contents, were then evaluated by haematoxylin and eosin staining, Periodic acid Schiff (PAS) and PAS/Alcian Blue-staining, immunocytochemistry and Western blot. In addition, we assessed the usefulness of the hTERT-expressing gastric cell line for H. pylori research, by performing co-culture assays and measuring the IL-8 secretion, by ELISA, upon infection with two H. pylori strains differing in virulence. RESULTS: Compared with the parental cell line, the most promising NCI-hTERT-derived clones (CL5 and CL6) were composed of cells with homogenous phenotype, presented higher relative telomerase activities, better adhesion properties, ability to be maintained in culture for longer periods after confluency, and were more efficient in PAS-reactive mucins secretion. Both clones were shown to produce high amounts of MUC1, MUC2 and MUC13. NCI-hTERT-CL5 mucins were shown to be decorated with blood group H type 2 (BG-H), Lewis-x (Le(x)), Le(y) and Le(a) and, in a less extent, with BG-A antigens, but the former two antigens were not detected in the NCI-hTERT-CL6. None of the clones exhibited detectable levels of MUC6 nor sialylated Le(x) and Le(a) glycans. Entailing good gastric properties, both NCI-hTERT-clones were found to produce pepsinogen-5 and human gastric lipase. The progenitor-like phenotype of NCI-hTERT-CL6 cells was highlighted by large nuclei and by the apical vesicular-like distribution of mucin 5AC and Pg5, supporting the accumulation of mucus-secreting and zymogens-chief mature cells functions. CONCLUSION: These traits, in addition to resistance to microaerobic conditions and good responsiveness to H. pylori co-culture, in a strain virulence-dependent manner, make the NCI-hTERT-CL6 a promising model for future in vitro studies.
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- Davies, Kerrie A., et al.
(author)
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Underdiagnosis of Clostridium difficile across Europe : the European, multicentre, prospective, biannual, point-prevalence study of Clostridium difficile infection in hospitalised patients with diarrhoea (EUCLID)
- 2014
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In: The Lancet - Infectious diseases. - : Elsevier. - 1473-3099 .- 1474-4457. ; 14:12, s. 1208-1219
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: Variations in testing for Clostridium difficile infection can hinder patients' care, increase the risk of transmission, and skew epidemiological data. We aimed to measure the underdiagnosis of C difficile infection across Europe.Methods: We did a questionnaire-based study at 482 participating hospitals across 20 European countries. Hospitals were questioned about their methods and testing policy for C difficile infection during the periods September, 2011, to August, 2012, and September, 2012, to August, 2013. On one day in winter, 2012-13 (December, 2012, or January, 2013), and summer, 2013 (July or August), every hospital sent all diarrhoeal samples submitted to their microbiology laboratory to a national coordinating laboratory for standardised testing of C difficile infection. Our primary outcome measures were the rates of testing for and cases of C difficile infection per 10 000 patient bed-days. Results of local and national C difficile infection testing were compared with each other. If the result was positive at the national laboratory but negative at the local hospital, the result was classified as undiagnosed C difficile infection. We compared differences in proportions with the Mann-Whitney test, or McNemar's test if data were matched.Findings: During the study period, participating hospitals reported a mean of 65.8 tests (country range 4. 6-223.3) for C difficile infection per 10 000 patient-bed days and a mean of 7.0 cases (country range 0.7-28.7) of C difficile infection per 10 000 patient-bed days. Only two-fifths of hospitals reported using optimum methods for testing of C difficile infection (defined by European guidelines), although the number of participating hospitals using optimum methods increased during the study period, from 152 (32%) of 468 in 2011-12 to 205 (48%) of 428 in 2012-13. Across all 482 European hospitals on the two sampling days, 148 (23%) of 641 samples positive for C difficile infection (as determined by the national laboratory) were not diagnosed by participating hospitals because of an absence of clinical suspicion, equating to about 74 missed diagnoses per day.Interpretation: A wide variety of testing strategies for C difficile infection are used across Europe. Absence of clinical suspicion and suboptimum laboratory diagnostic methods mean that an estimated 40 000 inpatients with C difficile infection are potentially undiagnosed every year in 482 European hospitals.
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| 7. |
- Thorpe, H. A., et al.
(author)
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Repeated out-of-Africa expansions of Helicobacter pylori driven by replacement of deleterious mutations
- 2022
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In: Nature Communications. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2041-1723. ; 13:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Helicobacter pylori lives in the human stomach and has a population structure resembling that of its host. However, H. pylori from Europe and the Middle East trace substantially more ancestry from modern African populations than the humans that carry them. Here, we use a collection of Afro-Eurasian H. pylori genomes to show that this African ancestry is due to at least three distinct admixture events. H. pylori from East Asia, which have undergone little admixture, have accumulated many more non-synonymous mutations than African strains. European and Middle Eastern bacteria have elevated African ancestry at the sites of these mutations, implying selection to remove them during admixture. Simulations show that population fitness can be restored after bottlenecks by migration and subsequent admixture of small numbers of bacteria from non-bottlenecked populations. We conclude that recent spread of African DNA has been driven by deleterious mutations accumulated during the original out-of-Africa bottleneck.
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| 9. |
- Vale, FF, et al.
(author)
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Dormant phages of Helicobacter pylori reveal distinct populations in Europe
- 2015
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In: Scientific reports. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2045-2322. ; 5, s. 14333-
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Prophages of Helicobacter pylori, a bacterium known to co-evolve in the stomach of its human host, were recently identified. However, their role in the diversity of H. pylori strains is unknown. We demonstrate here and for the first time that the diversity of the prophage genes offers the ability to distinguish between European populations and that H. pylori prophages and their host bacteria share a complex evolutionary history. By comparing the phylogenetic trees of two prophage genes (integrase and holin) and the multilocus sequence typing (MLST)-based data obtained for seven housekeeping genes, we observed that the majority of the strains belong to the same phylogeographic group in both trees. Furthermore, we found that the Bayesian analysis of the population structure of the prophage genes identified two H. pylori European populations, hpNEurope and hpSWEurope, while the MLST sequences identified one European population, hpEurope. The population structure analysis of H. pylori prophages was even more discriminative than the traditional MLST-based method for the European population. Prophages are new players to be considered not only to show the diversity of H. pylori strains but also to more sharply define human populations.
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| 11. |
- Vale, FF, et al.
(author)
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Genomic structure and insertion sites of Helicobacter pylori prophages from various geographical origins
- 2017
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In: Scientific reports. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2045-2322. ; 7, s. 42471-
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Helicobacter pylori genetic diversity is known to be influenced by mobile genomic elements. Here we focused on prophages, the least characterized mobile elements of H. pylori. We present the full genomic sequences, insertion sites and phylogenetic analysis of 28 prophages found in H. pylori isolates from patients of distinct disease types, ranging from gastritis to gastric cancer, and geographic origins, covering most continents. The genome sizes of these prophages range from 22.6–33.0 Kbp, consisting of 27–39 open reading frames. A 36.6% GC was found in prophages in contrast to 39% in H. pylori genome. Remarkably a conserved integration site was found in over 50% of the cases. Nearly 40% of the prophages harbored insertion sequences (IS) previously described in H. pylori. Tandem repeats were frequently found in the intergenic region between the prophage at the 3′ end and the bacterial gene. Furthermore, prophage genomes present a robust phylogeographic pattern, revealing four distinct clusters: one African, one Asian and two European prophage populations. Evidence of recombination was detected within the genome of some prophages, resulting in genome mosaics composed by different populations, which may yield additional H. pylori phenotypes.
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