Helicobacter pylori infection is the leading cause for peptic ulcer disease and gastric adenocarcinoma. Mucosal T cell responses play an important role in mediating H. pylori-related gastric immunopathology. While induced regulatory T (iTreg) cells are required for chronic colonization without disease, T helper (Th)1 effector responses are associated with lower bacterial loads at the expense of gastric pathology. Pigs were inoculated with either H. pylori strain SS1 or J99. Phenotypic and functional changes in peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) populations were monitored weekly, and mucosal immune responses and bacterial loads were assessed up to two months post-infection.

Both H. pylori strains elicited a Th1 response characterized by increased percentages of CD4⁺Tbet⁺ cells and elevated IFN-γ mRNA in PBMC. A subset of CD8⁺ T cells expressing Tbet and CD16 increased following infection. Moreover, a significant increase in perforin and granzyme mRNA expression was observed in PBMC of infected pigs indicating a predominant cytotoxic immune response. Infiltration of B cells, myeloid cells, T cells expressing Treg- and Th17-associated transcription factors, and cytotoxic T cells was found in the gastric lamina propria of both infected groups. Interestingly, based on bacterial reisolation data, strain SS1 showed greater capacity to colonize and/or persist in the gastric mucosa compared to strain J99.

This novel pig model of infection closely mimics human gastric pathology and presents a suitable avenue for studying effector and regulatory responses towards H. pylori described in humans.

To assess whether H. pylori infection affects the expansion of specific T cell subsets, we evaluated the expression of the main transcription factors involved in the regulation of CD4⁺ T cell phenotype: FOXP3 (iTreg and nTreg), Tbet (Th1) and RORγt (Th17). An elevated proportion of CD4⁺ T cells expressed the Th1-associated transcription factor Tbet in response to H. pylori (Fig. 1A). We observed a transient single peak at day 7 post-infection followed by a sustained increase in CD4⁺Tbet⁺ cells from day 28 to day 49 post-challenge in SS1-infected pigs. The same pattern was found in J99-infected pigs except that the response declined by day 49 post-challenge. The percentage of RORgt⁺CD4⁺ T cells was significantly different on days 21 post-infection for SS1 and days 28 and 49 post-infection in J99-infected pigs (Fig. 1C). There was a more notable decline in the expression of the Treg-associated transcription factor FOXP3 in CD4⁺ T cells from pigs infected with the strain SS1 on day 28 post-infection (Fig. 1D) which mirrored the increase in Tbet and coincided with increased transcripts of IFN-g mRNA in PBMC for both SS1 and J99-infected pigs (Fig. 1B). These results provided the first indication of a predominant Th1 response induced in our experimental model by H. pylori.

CD4⁺ T cells expressing the T cell lineage specific transcription factors (A) Tbet (Th1), (C) RORγt (TH17) and (D) FOXP3 (iTreg, nTreg) were detected by flow cytometry. IFN-γ mRNA levels in PBMC were measured by qRT-PCR (B). Symbols indicate statistical differences between either the H. pylori J99 (#) or SS1 (*) infected group to the control group and between both infected groups (&), n=8-9, mean±SEM, p≤0.05.

Furthermore, we demonstrate that H. pylori infection results in a significant increase of Tbet expressing cytotoxic CD8b⁺ T cells (Fig. 2A-B). The shift in Tbet expression was first detected on day 35 post-infection when on average 62% of cells had detectable amounts of this transcription factor. The percentage of CD8b⁺Tbet⁺ cells declined thereafter although towards the end of the study, on day 49 post-infection, there were still significant differences between infected and non-infected pigs. A closer analysis revealed the expansion of circulating CD8β⁺ T cells (Fig. 2C) and an increase of CD16 expression on those circulatingCTL (Fig. 2D) upon infection. Furthermore, CD3^-CD8a⁺ NK cells were significantly increased in blood of SS1-infected pigs on day 35 post-infection (Fig. 2E).

Expression of Tbet was assessed in peripheral CTL (CD8β⁺) on day 42 post-infection (A) and over time (B). Representative flow cytometry dot blots for non infected and H. pylori J99 and SS1 infected pigs are presented. Numbers indicate percentage of positive cells within the single cell population (A). The number of (C) CTL (CD8β⁺) and (E) NK cells (CD3^-CD8α⁺), were enumerated in PBMC over time. Numbers of cells per ml of blood were calculated by applying the percentage of immune cells obtained by flow cytometry to the concentration of cells in whole blood. The percentage of CD16 expressing CTL was assessed throughout the study (D). Gene expression levels of perforin (F), granzyme A (G) and granzyme B (H) in PBMC were analyzed over time. Symbols indicate statistical differences between either the H. pylori J99 (#) or SS1 (*) infected group to the control group and between both infected groups (&), n=8-9, mean±SEM, p≤0.05.

In concordance with the observed expansion of circulating cytotoxic T cells, we detected a significant upregulation in the expression of genes involved in the cytotoxic activity of CTL and NK cells, perforin, granzyme A and B (Fig. 2F-H). Overall our data suggest the initial induction of an IFN-g-producing Th1 response orchestrated by the transcription factor Tbet and executed by cytotoxic T cells.

Re-isolation of H. pylori from infected pigs was performed at the end of the study. Overall, H. pylori SS1 was recovered from the stomach of all pigs in that group, while H. pylori J99 could only be re-isolated from 8 out of 12 pigs. When looking at bacterial burden in different regions of the stomach we found that the percentage of re-isolation was consistently higher in the SS1-infected group than in the J99 group with the exception of the fundus-A sub-region which showed similar frequencies for both strains (Fig. 3B). Microscopic changes were present in the stomach of both infected groups and were characterized by significant expansion and development of organized lymphoid aggregates and diffuse leukocytic infiltration. Both strains of H. pylori induced organized lymphoid tissue in the stomach mucosa, which was more predominant in the cardiac region (Fig. 3A).

Representative images were taken from hematoxylin and eosin stained specimens collected from the stomach region cardiac B (CB) and pyloric A (PA) of non infected and infected pigs at 10× magnification (A). H. pylori J99 and SS1 were re-isolated from 6 stomach locations at 2 months post-infection. Re-isolation data is expressed as percentage (B).

In summary, our findings that H. pylori elicits Th1 and CTL responses in a novel pig model correlate well with its role as a facultative intracellular pathogen. Clinical and in vitro studies with human cells provide increasing evidence that cytotoxic immune responses play a crucial role in H. pylori pathogenesis. Our data demonstrates for the first time an increase in circulating CTL and NK cells peaking on day 35 post-infection which coincides with increased IFN-γ gene expression.

The exact role of CD8⁺ T cells and whether they contribute to the depletion of H. pylori from the gastric mucosa deserves further investigation. Findings from re-isolation and histopathology suggest that CD8+ T cell responses elicited upon infection might be ineffective in the elimination of bacteria but rather contribute to tissue damage. Furthermore, the infiltration of regulatory cells found in the stomach at least partially counteracts proinflammatory responses and contribute to bacterial persistence.

Here, we present the first pig model of H. pylori infection that corroborates in an experimental setting that the predominant Th1 response induced by the bacterium leads to the expansion of cytotoxic cells, including CTL and NK cells. The hallmark of the immune response to H. pylori in humans is the infiltration of Treg cells, neutrophils and Th1 cells. We have been able to reproduce these findings in our pig model, showing infiltration of myeloid cells and FOXP3⁺ T cells suggesting the presence of Tregs in the gastric mucosa. Furthermore, our model shows a strong systemic Th1 response followed by cytotoxic T cell responses. Similar to H. pylori mediated chronic gastritis in humans, bacteria are able to persist in the pig stomach but at the expense of lesion development. While the role of CD8⁺ T cells in mouse models of H. pylori has only been studied using immunodeficient mice lacking CD4⁺ T cells, our pig model provides a more suitable in vivo system to study cytotoxic immune responses towards H. pylori observed in humans and an ideal setting for testing new therapeutic approaches.

Link to the raw data can be found here.

Link to the publication can be found here.

Link to the press release can be found here.

1. Helicobacter pylori infection in a pig model is dominated by Th1 and cytotoxic CD8+ T cell responses. [PubMed]
2. Novel insights on the role of CD8+ T cells and cytotoxic responses during Helicobacter pylori infection. [PubMed]

Helicobacter pylori are gram-negative, miroaerophilic bacteria responsible for a variety of gastro-duodenal pathologies in the developed and developing world [1]. H. pylori is thought to be indigenous to the human population and is well adapted to colonize and persist in the human stomach. Infection is generally asymptomatic not causing clinical symptoms of those infected people. However, a small percentage of infected individuals will ultimately develop duodenal ulcers and gastric cancer due to the inability of the host immune system to clear the infection.

Dozens of bacterial factors are involved in H. pylori molecular pathogenesis (i.e. flagella, urease, catalase, neutrophil-activating protein Nap-A, vacA and cagA). These proteins have revealed many aspects of the relationships between the bacteria, the gastric mucosal surface, and the final outcome of the disease. Two of the most studied virulence factors are vacuolotoxin A (VacA) and the cytotoxin-associated gene A (cagA). Secreted VacA triggers pore formation in the cell membrane, endolysomal trafficking modification, cellular vacuolation, immune cell apoptosis and cell inhibition [2, 3]. CagA is an effector protein injected into the gastric epithelial cells by a type IV secretion system encoded by the cag pathogenicity island (cagPAI). Once inside the host cells, it localizes under the point of bacterial attachment and interacts with the protein zonulin (ZO-1) and the junctional adhesion molecule (JAM) [4]. CagA is then phosphorylated on EPIYA repeats in its phosphotyrosine (PY) region induce secretion of interleukin 8 (IL-8) [5].

As shown in figure 1, the inflammatory response towards H. pylori is initiated through the interaction between the pathogen lipopolysaccharides (LPS) and the Toll-like receptors (TLR) expressed on gastric epithelial cells [6]. Once in the gastric lamina propria, H. pylori is mainly found inside macrophages where their interaction leads to macrophage activation and cytokine release [7]. Macrophages interact with T helper (Th) cells during infection and release cell-polarizing cytokines such as IL-17 [8]. In addition, H. pylori infection also involves neutrophils and increased antigen presenting activity of dendritic cells (DC) [9].

MIEP is basically focused on the characterization of the mechanisms underlying immune responses to enteric pathogens by integrating mathematical and computational modeling approaches with experimental data (Figure 2). The integration of modeling and experimental approaches provides unprecedented opportunities for systems-level knowledge discovery. Given the complexity of the host-H. pylori interactions at the systems level and the broad range of possible outcomes, our team has developed a computational model of the gastric mucosal immune response towards H. pylori infection. Currently, the model is able to predict the distinct time-dependent behavior of the three main CD4+ T cells (Th1, Th17 and iTreg) showing an increased Th17 response at the early stage of infection that switches to a Th1 predominance in the chronic phase of the infection.

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