The study builds on previous research which has linked stomach ulcers to gastric cancer. Photo by
NIAID/Wikimedia Commons
ATHENS, Ga., Oct. 12 (UPI) -- A study on a common bacterium capable of injecting cancer-inducing toxins into healthy cells can be used to fight the disease, researchers from the University of Georgia say.
Scientists estimate over half of all people have traces of Helicobacter pylori in their stomachs, which can cause gastric cancer by injecting cytotoxin-associated gene A into otherwise healthy cells. In a study on the bacterium, researchers say the key to fighting gastric cancer may be simply starving them out by depriving them of hydrogen.
"There are many known microbes in the human gut that produce hydrogen and others that use hydrogen," study author Robert Maier explained in a press release. "The implications of the study are that if we can alter a person's microflora, the bacterial makeup of their gut, we can put bacteria in there that don't produce hydrogen or put in an extra dose of harmless bacteria that use hydrogen."
During the study, researchers used human-derived gastric cells to analyze hydrogenase activity. The cells were infected with both cancer-causing and non-carcinogenic strains of H. pylori. Cells infected with cancer-causing strains were observed to have more activity.
After using genetic engineering to remove the DNA fragment containing hydrogenase-inducing genes, the bacterium was no longer able to obtain energy through hydrogen. The findings were published in the American Society for Microbiology journal mBio.
"If hydrogen is in the gastric mucosa, of course a bacterium will use it," Maier added. "It's an excellent energy source for many bacteria out in nature. But we didn't realize that pathogens like H. pylori could have access to it inside an animal in a way that enables the bacterium to inject this toxin into a host cell and damage it."
The research builds on previous studies which have linked stomach ulcers with caner. H. pylori is estimated to cause 90 percent of all gastic cancers, which kill over 700,000 people per year.
.jpg){kind=link}