Project B05 - Helicobacter pylori - CEACAM interaction, gastric leukocyte recruitment and local immunomodu-lation
Helicobacter pylori may cause peptic ulcer or gastric cancer. The bacteria use CEACAM host cell receptors to inject its CagA toxin. H. pylori does not interact with murine CEACAMs, which prevents cellular signaling and subsequent chemokine release in murine leukocytes, preventing a strong recruitment of immune cells in the gastric mucosa. We aim to functionally characterize murine leukocytes expressing human CEACAMs and investigate their interaction with H. pylori in vitro and in vivo using biochemical and novel multiphoton intravital microscopy to better understand the persistence mechanisms of H. pylori in the host.