Fig. 2.

VacA and GGT are required for gastric colonization and DC tolerization in vivo. (A–F) C57BL/6 mice were infected at 6 wk of age with H. pylori PMSS1, PMSS1Δggt, or PMSS1ΔvacA for 1 (A–C) or 2 mo (D–F). Colony forming units (CFU) per stomach are shown in A and D. CD11c⁺ MLN DCs were immunomagnetically isolated from all mice killed at 1 mo p.i., cocultured with T cells, and subjected to flow cytometric analysis of CD4, CD25, and FoxP3 expression. CD25⁺FoxP3⁺ cells in the CD4⁺ gate are shown in B for representative donors and in C for all mice. Data in A–C are pooled from three independent experiments. DCs from uninfected mice (ctrl) and T cells cultured in the absence of DCs (−) served as controls. (E) Pathology scores assigned for inflammation, atrophy, intestinal metaplasia, and epithelial hyperplasia. (F) Representative micrographs of H&E-stained sections at 100 and 200× magnification. Arrowheads point to areas with inflammation; arrows indicate intestinal metaplastic glands. Uninfected controls are shown for comparison. (Scale bars, 100μm.) In A and C–E, each symbol represents one mouse; note that the mice in D–F are from the same infected cohort as a subset of mice shown in A–C.