Fig. 5: Napabucasin is effective against coccoid forms of H. pylori.

Cell viability of coccoid forms from aging H. pylori G27 (a) and amoxicillin-generated H. pylori G27 (b), following treatment with the indicated concentrations of napabucasin (NPB) or antibiotics for 1 h or 12 h. Live cell percentages after treatment were quantitatively assessed using the LIVE/DEAD BacLight viability stain. #, not detected. c SEM images of coccoid forms from amoxicillin-generated H. pylori G27, after treatment with the indicated concentrations of NPB or antibiotics for 6 h (Scale bar, 1 μm). “Coccoid” represents morphology of coccoid forms before treatments. Isopropanol-treated cells serve as a positive control for cell death. Antibiofilm activity of napabucasin determined by crystal violet staining (d), viable colony count method (e), and LIVE/DEAD BacLight viability stain (f). DMSO and MTZ (metronidazole) served as negative and positive controls, respectively. All images in c, f are representative of two independent experiments. Data are represented as mean ± SEM (n = 3 biological replicates) in (a, b, d, e). g Schematic diagram for assessing the efficacy of napabucasin against H. pylori coccoid forms in a mouse model infected with the mouse-adapted strain, MSD132. h CFU counts in the stomach of H. pylori MSD132-infected mice, euthanatized 48 h after the last treatment with vehicle, triple therapy (OPZ + AC), omeprazole plus 10 mg/kg napabucasin (OPZ + NPB), omeprazole plus 25 mg/kg napabucasin, respectively. Data are represented as mean ± SEM. n = 8 mice/group. Statistical significance was calculated using a one-way ANOVA with Tukey’s post-hoc test. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.