Rapid Communication
Copyright ©2008 The WJG Press and Baishideng. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Mar 7, 2008; 14(9): 1411-1414
Published online Mar 7, 2008. doi: 10.3748/wjg.14.1411
Relevance of MUC1 mucin variable number of tandem repeats polymorphism in H pylori adhesion to gastric epithelial cells
Natália R Costa, Nuno Mendes, Nuno T Marcos, Celso A Reis, Thomas Caffrey, Michael A Hollingsworth, Filipe Santos-Silva
Natália R Costa, Nuno Mendes, Nuno T Marcos, Celso A Reis, Filipe Santos-Silva, Institute of Molecular Pathology and Immunology, University of Porto, Porto 4200-465, Portugal
Celso A Reis, Filipe Santos-Silva, Medical Faculty, University of Porto, Porto 4200-465, Portugal
Thomas Caffrey, Michael A Hollingsworth, Eppley Institute for Research in Cancer and Allied Diseases, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha 68198-6805, United States
Author contributions: Costa NR, Marcos NT and Santos-Silva F designed research; Costa NR and Santos-Silva F performed research; Costa NR, Marcos NT and Santos-Silva F analyzed data; Hollingsworth MA contributed with MUC1 constructs with different VNTR lengths; Reis CA critically revised the paper; Mendes N and Caffrey T contributed with technical support; Costa NR and Santos-Silva F wrote the paper.
Correspondence to: Filipe Santos-Silva, Institute of Molecular Pathology and Immunology, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias s/n, Porto 4200-465, Portugal. fsilva@ipatimup.pt
Telephone: +351-22-5770700
Fax: +351-22-5770799
Received: June 26, 2007
Revised: January 1, 2008
Published online: March 7, 2008
Abstract

AIM: To evaluate the influence of MUC1 mucin variable number of tandem repeats (VNTR) variability on H pylori adhesion to gastric cells.

METHODS: Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA)-based adhesion assays were performed to measure the adhesion of different H pylori strains (HP26695 and HPTx30a) to gastric carcinoma cell lines (GP202 and MKN45) and GP202 clones expressing recombinant MUC1 with different VNTR lengths.

RESULTS: Evaluation of adhesion results shows that H pylori pathogenic strain HP26695 has a significantly higher (P < 0.05) adhesion to all the cell lines and clones tested, when compared to the non-pathogenic strain HPTx30a. Bacteria showed a significantly higher (P < 0.05) adhesion to the GP202 cell line, when compared to the MKN45 cell line. Furthermore, both strains showed a significantly higher (P < 0.05) adhesion to GP202 clones with larger MUC1 VNTR domains.

CONCLUSION: This work shows that MUC1 mucin variability conditions H pylori binding to gastric cells. The extent of bacterial adhesion depends on the size of the MUC1 VNTR domain. The adhesion is further dependent on bacterial pathogenicity and the gastric cell line. MUC1 mucin variability may contribute to determine H pylori colonization of the gastric mucosa.

Keywords: H pylori, MUC1, Variable number of tandem repeats, Polymorphism, Adhesion, Mucin, Gastric, Infection