In this study, we demonstrated that live
H. pylori transactivates cyclin D1, one of the critical regulators of the cell cycle, in AGS cells in a time- and dose-dependent manner. Although many studies have revealed that
H. pylori induces cellular proliferation (
9,
14,
16,
36,
37), the underlying mechanism has not yet been clarified. Our result indicating that
H. pylori directly affects the cell cycle regulator molecule represents one possible reason for cellular proliferation. Furthermore, overexpression of cyclin D1 has been demonstrated to contribute to the oncogenic transformation of cells in vitro and in vivo (
1,
4,
11,
26,
48,
50). Although little is known about the relationship between cyclin D1 and gastric cancer, transactivation of cyclin D1 and an accelerated cell cycle caused by
H. pylori infection can be among the factors contributing to malignant transformation.
We also demonstrated the effects of virulence genes of
H. pylori on cyclin D1 activation. In a Northern blot analysis, TN2-Δ
cagE and TN2-ΔPAI exerted weaker effects on
H. pylori-induced cyclin D1 activation compared with wild-type TN2, while TN2-Δ
vacA induced cyclin D1 transcription at a level similar to that of the wild type. In the reporter assay, strains containing all of the
cag PAI genes (TN2 and TN2-Δ
vacA) activated the promoter more strongly than did strains partially or completely lacking
cag PAI genes (TN2-Δ
cagE and TN2-ΔPAI). Although we did not evaluate the cell cycle directly, these data may be compatible with a previous report by Peek et al. which demonstrated that
H. pylori possessing
cag PAI accelerated the progression of the cell cycle from G
1 into G
2-M in AGS cells at 6 h (
37). We have recently demonstrated in the Mongolian gerbil model that TN2-Δ
cagE did not induce any severe gastric diseases, in contrast to wild-type TN2 and TN2-Δ
vacA, in spite of the similar colonization abilities (
33). Together with other host responses such as transcriptional factor activation (
18,
19,
22,
24,
25,
42) and apoptosis (
17,
37), which can be enhanced by
cag PAI-positive
H. pylori, accelerated cell proliferation may provide one of the reasons for the high prevalence of gastric cancer in patients suffering from
cag PAI-positive
H. pylori (
3,
21,
35).
It is not known, however, how
cag PAI genes contribute to the differences in host response. Possibly only
cag PAI-positive strains transport certain molecules of
H. pylori, which directly activate intracellular signal transduction. Some of the
cag PAI genes and their products have been thought to form a type IV secretion system (
5,
7). Very recently, CagA protein was reported to be transported into AGS cells by this secretion system and the transportation was blocked by
cagE knockout (
2,
31,
45). However, since the mutant strains used in this study also weakly induced cyclin D1 transcription, the proteins transported by this secretion system cannot be the sole molecules responsible for cyclin D1 activation.
In the Northern blot analysis, an increased level of cyclin D1 mRNA was observed 60 to 120 min after coculture with
H. pylori. The time-dependent increase in cyclin D1 mRNA levels was also observed when MKN-28 cells were cocultured with
H. pylori (data not shown). This time lag suggests an involvement of intracellular signal transduction. Cyclin D1 expression is regulated by many signaling cascades, such as mitogenic stimuli and the MAP kinase cascade, inflammation and NF-κB activation, and Wnt signaling (
13,
20,
44,
47). Some of these signaling cascades are involved in
H. pylori-mediated host responses. Thus, we determined the intracellular signaling pathway for
H. pylori-induced cyclin D1 activation.
The present results showing that MEK inhibitors reduced
H. pylori-induced cyclin D1 activation suggest the involvement of MAP kinase cascades. Since the
cag PAI mutant strains are known to be less potent in activating the MAP kinase cascades (
19,
24,
25), less activation of cyclin D1, as shown by the mutant strains used in this study, is reasonable. We also performed in vitro kinase assays to measure MAP kinase activity, and we confirmed that
H. pylori had the ability to activate MAP kinase, and this ability was correlated with the status of
cag PAI (data not shown). On the other hand, the use of a mutant reporter plasmid of the NF-κB binding site or dominant-negative IκBα expression vector in the present study showed that NF-κB activation is not required for cyclin D1 transactivation in AGS cells.
In conclusion, we have demonstrated that H. pylori activates cyclin D1 expression and that this activation is partly dependent on the cag PAI genes. Furthermore, cyclin D1 expression was activated through the MAP kinase signaling pathway but not by activation of NF-κB. It is possible that other signaling pathways which can be induced by H. pylori exist, as well as another mechanism for cyclin D1 transactivation. These possibilities should be investigated in future studies.