Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:3.5.1.5 (urease)
7,257 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Although certain factors appear to predispose the host to infection by Helicobacter pylori, clearly the bacterium possesses a well-defined battery of virulence factors that allow the organism to: (1) colonize the gastric mucosa (urease, flagella, adhesins, acid-inhibitory protein, iron acquisition proteins, and heat shock proteins); (2) evade host defense (shedding of surface proteins, catalase, superoxide dismutase, and poorly reactive lipopolysaccharide); and (3) damage host tissue (vacuolating cytotoxin, protease, CagA-related factors, inducers of cytokines, and chemotaxins). Together these factors allow H. pylori to persist in the host, establishing a chronic infection. Although many of these virulence factors are produced by all strains of H. pylori, there are also well-defined pathogenicity islands (contiguous stretches of chromosomal DNA) present in some strains that encode additional proteins including CagA that potentiate virulence. Strains possessing these "virulence cassettes" are isolated more frequently from patients with the more serious clinical manifestations associated with duodenal ulcer than from patients with gastritis alone or nonulcer dyspepsia.
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PMID:Helicobacter pylori factors associated with disease development. 939 56

Since the discovery of H. pylori in 1982 (MARSHALL 1983; WARREN 1983), research on the mechanisms of virulence of H. pylori has advanced substantially. It is now well established that urease and flagella are virulence factors of H. pylori. Although known for some time to be toxic to epithelial cells in vitro, VacA has only recently been established as a virulence factor. The cag pathogenicity island has also emerged as another virulence contender, although the specific genes involved in virulence are still being determined. Other possible virulence factors, not yet confirmed by gene disruptions, are hapA, katA, sodA, cagA, and iron-regulated genes. As of yet, no adhesins have been confirmed as being important for in vivo survival of H. pylori. With the sequence of the H. pylori genome in hand, it should be possible to more easily determine the role of specific genes in virulence. Genes of immediate interest are the OMPs, which may under go phase and antigenic variation and may represent adhesins. Additionally, virulence-related orthologs and vacA-related genes may provide some interesting findings. Once we define the genes that contribute to H. pylori virulence, we may be able to more easily develop novel therapeutic drugs or vaccines to treat and prevent H. pylori infection.
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PMID:Mechanisms of Helicobacter pylori infection: bacterial factors. 1008 61

Since free iron possesses a poor solubility under physiologic conditions and thus becomes a limiting nutrient for growth, a shift from high- to low-iron environmental conditions is an important signal for bacteria to coordinate the regulation of gene expression. Here, we studied and compared the level of transcripts corresponding to the vacA (cytotoxin), ureA (urease), cagA (cytotoxin-associated antigen) and fur (ferric uptake regulator) genes of Helicobacter pylori, grown under iron-sufficient and iron-restricted conditions. A significant increase in the accumulation of vacA and fur transcripts was observed under iron-restricted conditions. This up-regulation by low levels of iron seems to be not directly regulated by Fur, and certainly requires other regulatory factors. No statistical difference was defined in the accumulation of cagA and ureA.
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PMID:Regulation of the transcription of genes encoding different virulence factors in Helicobacter pylori by free iron. 1038 65

The publication of the complete sequence of Helicobacter pylori 26695 in 1997 and more recently that of strain J99 has provided new insight into the biology of this organism. In this review, we attempt to analyze and interpret the information provided by sequence annotations and to compare these data with those provided by experimental analyses. After a brief description of the general features of the genomes of the two sequenced strains, the principal metabolic pathways are analyzed. In particular, the enzymes encoded by H. pylori involved in fermentative and oxidative metabolism, lipopolysaccharide biosynthesis, nucleotide biosynthesis, aerobic and anaerobic respiration, and iron and nitrogen assimilation are described, and the areas of controversy between the experimental data and those provided by the sequence annotation are discussed. The role of urease, particularly in pH homeostasis, and other specialized mechanisms developed by the bacterium to maintain its internal pH are also considered. The replicational, transcriptional, and translational apparatuses are reviewed, as is the regulatory network. The numerous findings on the metabolism of the bacteria and the paucity of gene expression regulation systems are indicative of the high level of adaptation to the human gastric environment. Arguments in favor of the diversity of H. pylori and molecular data reflecting possible mechanisms involved in this diversity are presented. Finally, we compare the numerous experimental data on the colonization factors and those provided from the genome sequence annotation, in particular for genes involved in motility and adherence of the bacterium to the gastric tissue.
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PMID:Metabolism and genetics of Helicobacter pylori: the genome era. 1047 11

Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection plays a role in the pathogenesis of peptic ulceration as well as active chronic gastritis. Possible mechanisms of H. pylori-induced mucosal injury include the generation of toxic monochloramine (NH2Cl) from oxidant (HOCl)--which is a product of activated neutrophils-and ammonia (NH3), which is a metabolite of H. pylori urease. To clarify mechanisms by which NH2Cl induces cytolysis, we determined the effects of glutathione (GSH) alteration and iron chelation on NH2Cl-induced damage in cultured rat gastric mucosal cells, because these are involved in oxidant injury. Cytotoxicity was quantified by chromium 51 release from prelabeled cells that were exposed to NH2Cl or hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). Although both NH2Cl and H2O2 caused a time-related and dose-dependent increase in 51Cr release, NH2Cl was more cytotoxic than H2O2. Pretreatment with extracellular GSH caused a right shift of the dose-response curve for NH2Cl, whereas pretreatment with diethyl maleate (a depletor of cellular GSH) rendered cells less resistant to NH2Cl. Iron chelation with 1,10-phenanthroline or deferoxamine failed to influence NH2Cl injury, whereas such treatment was protective against H2O2. Intracellular GSH seems to play an important role as a potent defense system against NH2Cl, as observed in H2O2-induced damage. However, the mechanisms of NH2Cl-induced damage seem to be distinctly different from cytolysis by H2O2 in terms of the mediation of cellular iron.
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PMID:Monochloramine-induced cytolysis to cultured rat gastric mucosal cells: role of glutathione and iron in protection and injury. 1052 Oct 83

Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae, a porcine respiratory tract pathogen, has been shown to express transferrin-binding proteins and urease during infection. Both activities have been associated with virulence; however, their functional role for infection has not yet been elucidated. We used two isogenic A. pleuropneumoniae single mutants (DeltaexbB and DeltaureC) and a newly constructed A. pleuropneumoniae double (DeltaureC DeltaexbB) mutant in aerosol infection experiments. Neither the A. pleuropneumoniae DeltaexbB mutant nor the double DeltaureC DeltaexbB mutant was able to colonize sufficiently long to initiate a detectable humoral immune response. These results imply that the ability to utilize transferrin-bound iron is required for multiplication and persistence of A. pleuropneumoniae in the porcine respiratory tract. The A. pleuropneumoniae DeltaureC mutant and the parent strain both caused infections that were indistinguishable from one another in the acute phase of disease; however, 3 weeks postinfection the A. pleuropneumoniae DeltaureC mutant, in contrast to the parent strain, could not be isolated from healthy lung tissue. In addition, the local immune response-as assessed by fluorescence-activated cell sorter and enzyme-linked immunosorbent spot analyses-revealed a significantly higher number of A. pleuropneumoniae-specific B cells in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) of pigs infected with the A. pleuropneumoniae DeltaureC mutant than in the BALF of those infected with the parent strain. These results imply that A. pleuropneumoniae urease activity may cause sufficient impairment of the local immune response to slightly improve the persistence of the urease-positive A. pleuropneumoniae parent strain.
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PMID:Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae iron transport and urease activity: effects on bacterial virulence and host immune response. 1111 39

The nickel-containing enzyme urease is an essential colonization factor of the gastric pathogen Helicobacter pylori, as it allows the bacterium to survive the acidic conditions in the gastric mucosa. Although urease can represents up to 10% of the total protein content of H. pylori, expression of urease genes is thought to be constitutive. Here it is demonstrated that H. pylori regulates the expression and activity of its urease enzyme as a function of the availability of the cofactor nickel. Supplementation of brucella growth medium with 1 or 100 microM NiCl(2) resulted in up to 3.5-fold-increased expression of the urease subunit proteins UreA and UreB and up to 12-fold-increased urease enzyme activity. The induction was specific for nickel, since the addition of cadmium, cobalt, copper, iron, manganese, or zinc did not affect the expression of urease. Both Northern hybridization studies and a transcriptional ureA::lacZ fusion demonstrated that the observed nickel-responsive regulation of urease is mediated at the transcriptional level. Mutation of the HP1027 gene, encoding the ferric uptake regulator (Fur), did not affect the expression of urease in unsupplemented medium but reduced the nickel induction of urease expression to only twofold. This indicates that Fur is involved in the modulation of urease expression in response to nickel. These data demonstrate nickel-responsive regulation of H. pylori urease, a phenomenon likely to be of importance during the colonization and persistence of H. pylori in the gastric mucosa.
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PMID:Nickel-responsive induction of urease expression in Helicobacter pylori is mediated at the transcriptional level. 1144 65

The preparation of biocolloids with organized enzyme-containing multilayer shells for exploitation as colloidal enzymatic nanoreactors is described. Urease multilayers were assembled onto submicrometer-sized polystyrene spheres by the sequential adsorption of urease and polyelectrolyte, in a predetermined order, utilizing electrostatic interactions for layer growth. The catalytic activity of the biocolloids increased proportionally with the number of urease layers deposited on the particles, demonstrating that biocolloid particles with tailored enzymatic activities can be produced. It was further found that precoating the latex spheres with nanoparticles (40-nm silica or 12-nm magnetite) enhanced both the stability (with respect to adsorption) and enzymatic activity of the urease multilayers. The presence of the magnetite nanoparticle coating also provided a magnetic function that allowed the biocolloids to be easily and rapidly separated with a permanent magnet. The fabrication of such colloids opens new avenues for the application of bioparticles and represents a promising route for the creation of complex catalytic particles.
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PMID:Biocolloids with ordered urease multilayer shells as enzymatic reactors. 1156 11

Helicobacter pylori can transform, in vivo as well as in vitro, from dividing spiral-shaped forms into nonculturable coccoids, with intermediate forms called U forms. The importance of nonculturable coccoid forms of H. pylori in disease transmission and antibiotic treatment failures is unclear. Metabolic activities of actively growing as well as nonculturable H. pylori were investigated by comparing the concentrations of cellular ATP and total RNA, gene expression, presence of cytoplasmic polyphosphate granules and iron inclusions, and cellular morphology during extended broth culture and nutritional cold starvation. In addition, the effect of exposing broth-cultured or cold-starved cells to a nutrient-rich or acidic environment on the metabolic activities was investigated. ATP was detectable up to 14 days and for at least 25 days after transformation from the spiral form to the coccoid form or U form in broth-cultured and cold-starved cells, respectively. mRNAs of VacA, a 26-kDa protein, and urease A were detected by using reverse transcription-PCR in cells cultured for 2 months in broth or cold starved for at least 28 months. The ATP concentration was not affected during exposure to fresh or acidified broth, while 4- to 12-h exposures of nonculturable cells to lysed human erythrocytes increased cellular ATP 12- to 150-fold. Incubation of nonculturable cold-starved cells with an erythrocyte lysate increased total RNA expression and ureA mRNA transcription as measured by quantitative real-time reverse transcription-PCR. Furthermore, the number of structurally intact starved coccoids containing polyphosphate granules increased almost fourfold (P = 0.0022) under the same conditions. In conclusion, a specific environmental stimulus can induce ATP, polyphosphate, and RNA metabolism in nonculturable H. pylori, indicating viability of such morphological forms.
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PMID:Effect of cold starvation, acid stress, and nutrients on metabolic activity of Helicobacter pylori. 1177 3

A facultatively anaerobic bacterium, designated strain COOI3B(T) (= ATCC BAA 136T = DSM 13966T), was isolated from the waters emitted by a bore well tapping the deep subterranean thermal waters of the Great Artesian Basin of Australia. The cells were straight to slightly curved rods (0.5-0.8 x 2-25 microm) that occurred singly and rarely in pairs or in chains. Strain COOI3B(T) was motile by peritrichous flagella. It stained gram-negative, but electron micrographs showed a gram-positive-type cell wall. Spores were never observed and cells were heat-sensitive. Yeast extract at 0.02% (w/v) was required for growth and could also be used as a sole carbon and energy source at concentrations higher than 0.1% (w/v). The strain utilized amorphous iron(III), manganese(IV), nitrate, nitrite and fumarate as electron acceptors in the presence of yeast extract, glucose, sucrose, fructose, maltose, xylose, starch, glycerol, ethanol or lactate. Electron acceptors were not obligately required and growth was better in the presence of nitrate than in its absence. Acid was not produced from growth on carbohydrates. Tryptophan deaminase, H2S, arginine dihydrolase, lysine decarboxylase, beta-galactosidase, arabinosidase, glucuronidase, glucosaminidase, nitroanilidase, xylosidase and ornithine decarboxylase were not produced. Starch and gelatin, but not casein, were hydrolysed. Aesculin and catalase, but not oxidase and urease, were produced. Strain COOI3B(T) grew optimally at temperatures between 37 and 40 degrees C (the temperature growth range was 25-45 degrees C) and at pH 7.0-9.0 (the pH growth range was 6.0 to 9.5) with 5% (w/v) NaCl (the NaCl concentration growth range was 0.9%, w/v). The DNA base composition was 43 +/- 1 mol % G+C. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that it was a member of the family Bacillaceae, Bacillus infernus and Bacillus firmus being the closest phylogenetic neighbours (having a mean similarity value of 96%); hence, strain COOI3B(T) is designated as a novel species, Bacillus subterraneus sp. nov.
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PMID:Bacillus subterraneus sp. nov., an iron- and manganese-reducing bacterium from a deep subsurface Australian thermal aquifer. 1205 51


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