Engagement of CEACAM1 by <i>Helicobacter</i> <i>pylori</i> HopQ Is Important for the Activation of Non-Canonical NF-κB in Gastric Epithelial Cells

oleh: Karin Taxauer, Youssef Hamway, Anna Ralser, Alisa Dietl, Karin Mink, Michael Vieth, Bernhard B. Singer, Markus Gerhard, Raquel Mejías-Luque

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: MDPI AG 2021-08-01

Deskripsi

The gastric pathogen <i>Helicobacter pylori</i> infects half of the world’s population and is a major risk factor for gastric cancer development. In order to attach to human gastric epithelial cells and inject the oncoprotein CagA into host cells, <i>H. pylori</i> utilizes the outer membrane protein HopQ that binds to the cell surface protein CEACAM, which can be expressed on the gastric mucosa. Once bound, <i>H. pylori</i> activates a number of signaling pathways, including canonical and non-canonical NF-κB. We investigated whether HopQ–CEACAM interaction is involved in activating the non-canonical NF-κB signaling pathway. Different gastric cancer cells were infected with the <i>H. pylori</i> wild type, or HopQ mutant strains, and the activation of non-canonical NF-κB was related to CEACAM expression levels. The correlation between CEACAM levels and the activation of non-canonical NF-κB was confirmed in human gastric tissue samples. Taken together, our findings show that the HopQ–CEACAM interaction is important for activation of the non-canonical NF-κB pathway in gastric epithelial cells.