Bacterium research presents a pathway to potential new treatment

A common bacterium that more than half of people have in their gut can use hydrogen gas present in the gastrointestinal tract to inject a cancer-causing toxin into otherwise healthy cells, according to a recently published study led by Franklin College researchers:

The bacterium's reliance on hydrogen presents a pathway to potential new treatment and preventive measures in fighting gastric cancers, which kill more than 700,000 people per year, said corresponding author Robert Maier, Georgia Research Alliance Ramsey Eminent Scholar of Microbial Physiology in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences.

Previous studies solidified the relationship between stomach ulcers and cancer and certain strains of Helicobacter pylori, a stomach-dwelling bacterium that causes 90 percent of all gastric cancers. Earlier research also found a link between a toxin known as CagA, or cytotoxin-associated gene A, and cancer formation, but the new study exposes how the bacterium uses hydrogen as an energy source to inject CagA into cells, resulting in gastric cancer, Maier said.

"There are many known microbes in the human gut that produce hydrogen and others that use hydrogen. The implications of the study are that if we can alter a person's microflora, the bacterial makeup of their gut, we can put bacteria in there that don't produce hydrogen or put in an extra dose of harmless bacteria that use hydrogen," Maier said. "If we can do that, there will be less hydrogen for H. pylori to use, which will essentially starve this bacteria out and result in less cancer."

Expanded understanding of microbial processes is positioning our scientists and healthcare community for major breakthroughs along several axes and this research represents a crucial one. Maier's team, building on his earlier work, is building the foundation for better treatments and preventive measures. Congratulations on the success of these ongoing investigations.

Image: Robert Maier, left, Georgia Research Alliance Ramsey Eminent Scholar of Microbial Physiology, and Ge Wang, a senior research scientist, both in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences Department of Microbiology. (Credit: Peter Frey/UGA)