Investigating the Interaction of Helicobacter pylori with the Gastric Mucosa.

Helicobacter pylori chronically infects the gastric mucosa of humans and diseases associated with infection include gastritis, peptic ulceration, and development of gastric cancer. The organism displays a distinct tropism for the gastric mucosa of humans and for the gastric mucin MUC5AC. While the majority of organisms are found in the mucus layer overlying the epithelial cells in the stomach, adherence of the organism to the gastric epithelium is necessary for the development of disease. The interaction of H. pylori with epithelial cells results in subversion of host cell signaling and induction of an inflammatory response. Factors that influence the outcome of infection include host genetics, environmental factors, and the phenotype of the infecting strain. In this chapter, we describe cell culture assays to assess the interaction of H. pylori with epithelial cells, immunofluorescent staining to detect H. pylori in infected human gastric biopsy specimens and the use of flow cytometry to detect mucin binding to H. pylori.