| Summary: | <i>Helicobacter pylori</i> (<i>H. pylori</i>) adhesion to human gastric epithelial cells is closely linked with fucosylated glycans. Therefore, investigation of fucosylation in the interaction of gastric epithelial cells with <i>H. pylori</i> is critical. In this study we used lectin microarrays to detect the expression of fucosylated glycans in gastric epithelial cells (GES-1) infected with <i>H. pylori</i> strains isolated from patients with different diseases including chronic gastritis, duodenal ulcers, and gastric cancer (each containing two strains) at 4 h. In addition, we investigated the time-course expression of fucosyltransferase (FUT) 1–6 genes in GES-1 cells stimulated with <i>H. pylori</i> strains at 0.5–8 h. At 4 h post-infection, Lotus, AAA, BC2LCN, PA-IIL, CNL and ACG lectins had increased signals in <i>H. pylori</i>-infected GES-1 cells compared to uninfected cells. Higher expression of FUT1 and FUT2 was detected in all <i>H. pylori</i>-infected GES-1 cells within 2 h, regardless of the <i>H. pylori</i> strain. In particular, the expression of FUT2 was higher in <i>H. pylori</i>-infected GES-1 cells with a higher fold change in levels of BC2LCN lectin specific to α1-2 linked fucose (Fuc) at 4 h. The results suggest that the high levels of α1, 2-linked Fuc synthesized by FUT1/2, might play a role in the preliminary stage of <i>H. pylori</i> infection. This provides us with pivotal information to understand the adhesion of <i>H. pylori</i> to human gastric epithelial cells.
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