Determining if Two cagPAI Located Helicobacter pylori sRNAs Regulate Each Other
Faculty Mentor
Andrea Castillo
Presentation Type
Poster
Start Date
May 2025
End Date
May 2025
Location
PUB NCR
Primary Discipline of Presentation
Biology
Abstract
Helicobacter pylori is one of the most prevalent chronic bacterial infections worldwide. It is estimated that half of the World’s population carries the bacteria, but only 10-15% experience gastric disease related to its colonization of their stomach. Due to the acidity of the human stomach, H. pylori require numerous genes that are delicately regulated, many by an abundance of small regulatory RNAs. Several sRNAs are in the H. pylori cytotoxin-associated gene pathogenicity island (cagPAI) that also contains virulence genes associated with the more severe disease outcomes, including ulcers and gastric cancer. In her characterization of two cagPAI sRNAs (HPnc2540 and HPnc2620), a former graduate student, Roxanne McPeck identified an overlapping set of genes regulated by these sRNAs. Her work suggests that HPnc2540 and HPnc2620 may regulate one another. To test this hypothesis, we will use reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) to measure expression of each sRNA in H. pylori strains that overexpress each sRNA independently compared to an unmodified strain. A change in the fold expression of sRNA HPnc2540 in the sRNA HPnc2620 overexpression strain (or vice versa) compared to the unmodified strain would indicate that regulation between the two sRNAs is occurring. Thus far, we have purified our RNA samples from six experimental sets to remove residual chromosomal DNA, confirmed sample purity by PCR, started reverse transcription experiments, and conducted oligonucleotide efficiency tests. This spring we will complete reverse transcription on remaining RNA samples and perform quantitative PCR (qPCR) to compare sRNA expression between strains.
Recommended Citation
Bailey, Autumn and Castillo, Andrea PhD, "Determining if Two cagPAI Located Helicobacter pylori sRNAs Regulate Each Other" (2025). 2025 Symposium. 19.
https://dc.ewu.edu/srcw_2025/ps_2025/p1_2025/19
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Determining if Two cagPAI Located Helicobacter pylori sRNAs Regulate Each Other
PUB NCR
Helicobacter pylori is one of the most prevalent chronic bacterial infections worldwide. It is estimated that half of the World’s population carries the bacteria, but only 10-15% experience gastric disease related to its colonization of their stomach. Due to the acidity of the human stomach, H. pylori require numerous genes that are delicately regulated, many by an abundance of small regulatory RNAs. Several sRNAs are in the H. pylori cytotoxin-associated gene pathogenicity island (cagPAI) that also contains virulence genes associated with the more severe disease outcomes, including ulcers and gastric cancer. In her characterization of two cagPAI sRNAs (HPnc2540 and HPnc2620), a former graduate student, Roxanne McPeck identified an overlapping set of genes regulated by these sRNAs. Her work suggests that HPnc2540 and HPnc2620 may regulate one another. To test this hypothesis, we will use reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) to measure expression of each sRNA in H. pylori strains that overexpress each sRNA independently compared to an unmodified strain. A change in the fold expression of sRNA HPnc2540 in the sRNA HPnc2620 overexpression strain (or vice versa) compared to the unmodified strain would indicate that regulation between the two sRNAs is occurring. Thus far, we have purified our RNA samples from six experimental sets to remove residual chromosomal DNA, confirmed sample purity by PCR, started reverse transcription experiments, and conducted oligonucleotide efficiency tests. This spring we will complete reverse transcription on remaining RNA samples and perform quantitative PCR (qPCR) to compare sRNA expression between strains.
