Helicobacter pylori vaccine strategies--triggering a gut reaction.

Helicobacter pylori causes peptic ulcer disease and some forms of gastric cancer; it is one of the most common chronic bacterial infections of humans. Although several prototype protein-based vaccines have shown promising results, they have not cleared infection and/or prevented reinfection. Nucleic acid vaccination offers a useful alternative to protein immunization, especially now that two complete H. pylori genome sequences are available, and facilitates the selection of antigenic targets.