TFF1 Induces Aggregation and Reduces Motility of Helicobacter pylori

Gastric cancer is considered one of the mostcommon malignancies in humans and Helicobacter pyloriinfection is the major environmental risk factor of gastric cancer development. Given the high spread of this bacterium whose infection is mostly asymptomatic, H. pyloricolonization persists for a long time,becoming chronic and predisposing to malignant transformation. The first defensive barrier from bacterial infection is constituted by the gastric mucosa that secretes several protective factors, among which is the trefoil factor 1 (TFF1),that, as mucin 5AC, binds the bacterium. Even if the protective role of TFF1 is well-documented, the molecular mechanisms that confer a beneficial function to the interaction among TFF1 andH. pyloriremain still unclear. Here we analyze the effects of this interaction on H. pyloriat morphological and molecular levels by means of microscopic observation, chemiotaxis and motility assays and real-time PCR analysis. Our results show that TFF1 favors aggregation of H. pylori and significantlyslowsdown the motility ofthe bacterium across the mucus. Such aggregates significantly reduce both flgE and flaBgenetranscription compared with bacteria not incubated with TFF1. Finally, our results suggest that the interaction between TFF1 and the bacterium may explain the frequent persistence of H. pyloriin the human host without inducing disease.