title: Immune evasion strategies used by Helicobacter pylori.
abstract: Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is perhaps the most ubiquitous and successful human pathogen, since it colonizes the stomach of more than half of humankind. Infection with this bacterium is commonly acquired during childhood. Once infected, people carry the bacteria for decades or even for life, if not treated. Persistent infection with this pathogen causes gastritis, peptic ulcer disease and is also strongly associated with the development of gastric cancer. Despite induction of innate and adaptive immune responses in the infected individual, the host is unable to clear the bacteria. One widely accepted hallmark of H. pylori is that it successfully and stealthily evades host defense mechanisms. Though the gastric mucosa is well protected against infection, H. pylori is able to reside under the mucus, attach to gastric epithelial cells and cause persistent infection by evading immune responses mediated by host. In this review, we discuss how H. pylori avoids innate and acquired immune response elements, uses gastric epithelial cells as mediators to manipulate host T cell responses and uses virulence factors to avoid adaptive immune responses by T cells to establish a persistent infection. We also discuss in this review how the genetic diversity of this pathogen helps for its survival.
authors.affiliation: Taslima T Lina, Shatha Alzahrani, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX 77555, United States.
authors.forename: Taslima T
authors.initials: TT
authors.lastname: Lina
authors.affiliation: Taslima T Lina, Shatha Alzahrani, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX 77555, United States.
authors.forename: Shatha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Alzahrani
authors.affiliation: Taslima T Lina, Shatha Alzahrani, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX 77555, United States.
authors.forename: Jazmin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gonzalez
authors.affiliation: Taslima T Lina, Shatha Alzahrani, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX 77555, United States.
authors.forename: Irina V
authors.initials: IV
authors.lastname: Pinchuk
authors.affiliation: Taslima T Lina, Shatha Alzahrani, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX 77555, United States.
authors.forename: Ellen J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Beswick
authors.affiliation: Taslima T Lina, Shatha Alzahrani, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX 77555, United States.
authors.forename: Victor E
authors.initials: VE
authors.lastname: Reyes
mesh_terms: D056704:Adaptive Immunity; D000818:Animals; D004847:Epithelial Cells / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology; D005753:Gastric Mucosa / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000382:microbiology; D005838:Genotype; D016481:Helicobacter Infections / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000382:microbiology / Q000628:therapy; D016480:Helicobacter pylori / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000472:pathogenicity; D006801:Humans; D057131:Immune Evasion; D056724:Immunity, Humoral; D007113:Immunity, Innate; D018928:Immunity, Mucosal; D007167:Immunotherapy / Q000379:methods; D050296:Microbial Viability; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology; D014774:Virulence
keywords: Antigen presenting cells; Gastric epithelial cells; Helicobacter pylori; Immune response; Pattern recognition receptors; Phagocytes; T cells; T4SS; Vacuolating cytotoxin