Helicobacter pylori disrupts STAT1-mediated gamma interferon-induced signal transduction in epithelial cells

Infection with Helicobacter pylori is chronic despite a vigorous mucosal immune response characterized by gastric T-helper type 1 cell expansion and gamma interferon (IFN-gamma) production. IFN-gamma signals by activation and nuclear translocation of signal transducer and activator of transcription 1 (STAT1); however, the effect of H. pylori infection on IFN-gamma-STAT1 signaling is unknown. We infected human gastric (MKN45 and AGS) and laryngeal (HEp-2) epithelial cell lines with type I and type 2 H. pylori strains and then stimulated them with IFN-gamma. Western blotting of whole-cell protein extracts revealed that infection with live, but not heat-killed, H. pylori time-dependently decreased IFN-gamma-induced STAT1 tyrosine phosphorylation. Electrophoretic mobility shift assay of nuclear protein extracts demonstrated that H. pylori infection reduced IFN-gamma-induced STAT1 DNA binding. STAT1 was unable to translocate from the cytoplasm to the nucleus in H. pylori-infected HEp-2 cells examined by immunofluorescence, and reverse transcription-PCR showed that IFN-gamma-induced interferon regulatory factor I expression was inhibited. These effects were independent of the cagA, cagE, and VacA status of the infecting H. pylori strain. Furthermore, neither H. pylori culture supernatants nor conditioned medium from H. pylori-infected MKN45 cells inhibited IFN-gamma-induced STAT1 tyrosine phosphorylation, suggesting that inhibition is independent of a soluble epithelial or bacterial factor but is dependent on bacterial contact with epithelial cells. H. pylori disruption of IFN-gamma-STAT1 signaling in epithelial cells may represent a mechanism by which the bacterium modifies mucosal immune responses to promote its survival in the human host.