Helicobacter pylori is associated with gastritis and peptic ulcer disease in humans. We have identified a homolog of the chaperonin cpn60 family of heat shock proteins in H. pylori, referred to as Hp54K. Hp54K, purified from water-extractable H. pylori proteins, migrated as a single band at 54 kDa by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Its native molecular mass was 740 kDa; thus, Hp54K apparently comprises a 14-mer. The N-terminal 33 residues of Hp54K exhibited 60.6, 57.6, 54.5, 54.5, 51.5, and 51.5% identity with corresponding sequences in the following cpn60 homologs: HtpB (Legionella pneumophila), P1 (human mitochondria), GroEL (Escherichia coli), BA60K (Brucella abortus), HypB (Chlamydia trachomatis), and the 65-kDa immunodominant protein of Mycobacterium bovis BCG, respectively. Hp54K was the only protein recognized in whole-cell preparations of H. pylori by immunoblotting using monospecific antisera against cpn60 homologs from L. pneumophila, E. coli, C. trachomatis, and M. bovis BCG. Antiserum against Hp54K recognized proteins with molecular masses of 50 to 60 kDa in a large number of gram-negative bacteria, consistent with the known highly conserved nature of cpn60 proteins. Hp54K is a major protein and is immunogenic in humans infected with H. pylori. Thus, Hp54K shares many similarities with known cpn60 homologs. On the basis of the proposed role of other cpn60 proteins in induction of chronic inflammation, immune cross-reactivity between Hp54K and gastric tissue may provide an important link between H. pylori infection and gastritis.

The three mammalian transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta isoforms (TGF-beta1, TGF-beta2, and TGF-beta3) differ in their putative roles in radiation-induced fibrosis in intestine and other organs. Furthermore, tissue specificity of TGF-beta action may result from temporal or spatial changes in production and/or activation. The present study examined shifts in the cell types expressing TGF-beta mRNA relative to TGF-beta immunoreactivity and histopathological injury during radiation enteropathy development. A 4-cm loop of rat small intestine was locally exposed to O, 12, or 21-Gy single doses of x-irradiation. Sham-irradiated and irradiated intestine were procured 2 and 26 weeks after irradiation. Cells expressing the TGF-beta1, TGF-beta2, or TGF-beta3 transcripts were identified by in situ hybridization with digoxigenin-labeled riboprobes. Intestinal wall TGF-beta immunoreactivity was measured using computerized image analysis, and structural radiation injury was assessed by quantitative histopathology. Normal intestinal epithelium expressed transcripts for all three TGF-beta isoforms. Two weeks after irradiation, regenerating crypts, inflammatory cells, smooth muscle cells, and mesothelium exhibited increased TGF-beta1 expression and, to a lesser degree, TGF-beta2 and TGF-beta3 expression. Twenty-six weeks after irradiation, TGF-beta2 and TGF-beta3 expression had returned to normal. In contrast, TGF-beta1 expression remained elevated in smooth muscle, mesothelium, endothelium, and fibroblasts in regions of chronic fibrosis. Extracellular matrix-associated TGF-beta1 immunoreactivity was significantly increased at both observation times, whereas, TGF-beta2 and TGF-beta3 immunoreactivity exhibited minimal postradiation changes. Intestinal radiation injury is associated with overexpression of all three TGF-beta isoforms in regenerating epithelium. Radiation enteropathy was also associated with sustained shifts in the cellular sources of TGF-beta1 from epithelial cells to cells involved in the pathogenesis of chronic fibrosis. TGF-beta2 and TGF-beta3 did not exhibit consistent long-term changes. TGF-beta1 appears to be the predominant isoform in radiation enteropathy and may be more important in the mechanisms of chronicity than TGF-beta2 and TGF-beta3.

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