Opinion Review
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2019. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Sep 21, 2019; 25(35): 5220-5232
Published online Sep 21, 2019. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v25.i35.5220
How does Helicobacter pylori cause gastric cancer through connexins: An opinion review
Huan Li, Can-Xia Xu, Ren-Jie Gong, Jing-Shu Chi, Peng Liu, Xiao-Ming Liu
Huan Li, Can-Xia Xu, Ren-Jie Gong, Jing-Shu Chi, Peng Liu, Xiao-Ming Liu, Department of Gastroenterology, the Third Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha 410013, Hunan Province, China
Author contributions: Li H performed the literature search and wrote the paper; Gong RJ, Chi JS, and Liu P collated and summarized the literature; Liu XM and Xu CX supervised and approved the final version of the review.
Conflict-of-interest statement: No author has any potential conflicts of interest to declare.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Xiao-Ming Liu, MD, Chief Doctor, Department of Gastroenterology, the Third Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, No. 138, Tongzipo Street, Changsha 410013, Hunan Province, China. liuxiaoming26@163.com
Telephone: +86-731-88618631 Fax: +86-731-88618012
Received: April 13, 2019
Peer-review started: April 15, 2019
First decision: July 22, 2019
Revised: August 12, 2019
Accepted: August 19, 2019
Article in press: July 22, 2019
Published online: September 21, 2019
Processing time: 161 Days and 18.3 Hours
Abstract

Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is a Gram-negative bacterium with a number of virulence factors, such as cytotoxin-associated gene A, vacuolating cytotoxin A, its pathogenicity island, and lipopolysaccharide, which cause gastrointestinal diseases. Connexins function in gap junctional homeostasis, and their downregulation is closely related to gastric carcinogenesis. Investigations into H. pylori infection and the fine-tuning of connexins in cells or tissues have been reported in previous studies. Therefore, in this review, the potential mechanisms of H. pylori-induced gastric cancer through connexins are summarized in detail.

Keywords: Helicobacter pylori; Connexin; Gap junctional intercellular communications; Gap junction proteins; Gastric cancer; Transcription factors; DNA methylation; Proliferation; Apoptosis

Core tip:Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is an independent pathogenic factor for gastric cancer (GC), which is related to some virulence factors of H. pylori. It has long been proven that various connexins (Cxs) can regulate the development of GC. Thus, we discuss in detail how H. pylori regulates Cxs to cause gastric cancer.