H. pylori is the main culprit of peptic ulcers. CUHK, together with the University of Oxford and the National Cancer Institute, has discovered how H. pylori use toxic metal, nickel ions, to survive in the acidic environment of the human stomach. The team believes this discovery will help in the development of new drugs targeting H. pylori.
H. pylori is the only bacterium that can colonize the human stomach because the bacterium produces large amounts of urease, which helps the bacterium neutralize stomach acid and thus protect the H. pylori.
Recently, the research team used a molecular microscope to observe how helper proteins interact with urease and found that a “tunnel” opens in the protein complex after helper proteins bind to urease, through which nickel ions enter urease. Since the transfer process occurs in the “tunnel,” the toxic nickel ions do not penetrate the H. pylori cells to produce toxicity.
Kam-Bo Wong explains that if a way is found to prevent nickel ions from reaching urease, H. pylori will no longer be able to produce living urease and survive in stomach acid.
The study results have been published in the scientific journal Science Advances.
