Study reveals key details about bacterium that increases risk for stomach cancer

The urea channel in closed formation is shaped like a hexagonal prism. Credit: UCLA

More than half of the people in the world host colonies of a bacterium called Helicobacter pylori in their stomachs.

Although it's harmless to many, H. pylori can cause stomach cancer as well as ulcers and other gastric conditions. Doctors tend to prescribe multiple antibiotics to defeat the microbe, but that strategy can lead to antibiotic-resistant superbugs.

Now, a finding by UCLA scientists may lead to a better approach. The researchers have determined the molecular structure of a protein that enables H. pylori to stay alive in the stomach, and elucidated the mechanism by which that protein works.

Read more at Medical Press