Bacterial antigens

Helicobacter

Helicobacter pylori is a helical gramnegative rod that colonises the gastric mucosa of humans. The pathogen is widely distributed worldwide and is believed to be transmitted orally or by faeces. Important pathogenic factors of Helicobacter pylori are the tumorigenic protein CagA and the vacuolating cytotoxin VacA. The enzyme urease enables Helicobacter pylori to survive in the acidic gastric environment by cleavage of urea in ammonia and carbon dioxide. In addition to these antigens, there are other antigens such as the cysteine-rich protein HcpC, the gamma-glutamyltranspeptidase gGT and the chaperone GroEL. These proteins together enable antibody detection in serum with differentiation of pathogenicity factors.