Publications by authors named "Jennifer Shuman"

colonization of the human stomach is a strong risk factor for gastric cancer. To investigate -induced gastric molecular alterations, we used a Mongolian gerbil model of gastric carcinogenesis. Histologic evaluation revealed varying levels of atrophic gastritis (a premalignant condition characterized by parietal and chief cell loss) in -infected animals, and transcriptional profiling revealed a loss of markers for these cell types.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

To evaluate potential effects of gastric inflammation on Helicobacter pylori diversification and evolution within the stomach, we experimentally infected Mongolian gerbils with an H. pylori strain in which Cag type IV secretion system (T4SS) activity is controlled by a TetR/ system. Gerbils infected with H.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Oxidative stress is a defining feature of most cancers, including those that stem from carcinogenic infections. Reactive oxygen species can drive tumor formation, yet the molecular oxidation events that contribute to tumorigenesis are largely unknown. Here we show that inactivation of a single, redox-sensitive cysteine in the host protease legumain, which is oxidized during infection with the gastric cancer-causing bacterium Helicobacter pylori, accelerates tumor growth.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Helicobacter pylori colonization of the stomach is a strong risk factor for the development of stomach cancer and peptic ulcer disease. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that H. pylori infection triggers alterations in gastric lipid composition.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Helicobacter pylori genomes encode over 60 predicted outer membrane proteins (OMPs). Several OMPs in the Hop family act as adhesins, but the functions of most Hop proteins are unknown. To identify mutant strains exhibiting differential fitness compared to , we used a genetic barcoding method that allowed us to track changes in the proportional abundance of H.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

is a parasitic protozoan that causes amoebic dysentery, which affects approximately 90 million people each year worldwide. is transmitted through ingestion of food and water contaminated with the cyst form, which undergoes excystation in the small intestine to the trophozoite form that colonizes the large intestine. The reptile pathogen has served as a model for studying stage conversion between the trophozoite and cyst form due to lack of reproducible encystation of in the laboratory.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The Cag type IV secretion system (T4SS) translocates the effector protein CagA and nonprotein bacterial constituents into host cells. In this study, we infected Mongolian gerbils with an strain in which expression of the operon (required for Cag T4SS activity) is controlled by a TetR/ system. Transcript levels of were significantly higher in gastric tissue from -infected animals receiving doxycycline-containing chow (to derepress Cag T4SS activity) than in tissue from infected control animals receiving drug-free chow.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF