The study, published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry online, focuses on a group of bacteria that can infect the digestive system known as Helicobacter pylori or H. Pylori. In a few number of cases, H. Pylori bacterial infection leads to cancer.

The researchers found one strain of H. pylori bacteria -- the H. pylori cag-plus strain -- contains a set of proteins that could be key to chronic damage.

Study corresponding author Richard Peek of the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in Nashville says that the protein -- CagE -- can induce gastric cells to turn on a receptor called decay-accelerating factor, which acts to remove nearby immune proteins that normally would kill cells and prevent unwanted immune damage.

In essence, says Peek, the bacteria use the decay-accelerating factor receptor on the host cell they're attached to like a bodyguard to protect them from the immune system. He notes that by continually inducing decay-accelerating factor expression, H. pylori creates an environment of persistent inflammation that can reduce the threshold required for more serious diseases to develop.