Identification and molecular characterization of a major ring-forming surface protein from the gastric pathogen Helicobacter mustelae

The spiral microaerophilic bacterium Helicobacter mustelae is linked to gastritis and gastric ulcers in ferrets. Electron microscopy of H. mustelae showed the presence of a laterally extensive array of 8.5-nm-diameter rings on the cell surface, which was shown to be composed of a 150 kDa protein. This protein was purified, and the sequence of 10 amino-terminal residues was determined. Polyclonal antibody against the purified 150 kDa protein labelled the ring structures on the homologous strain by means of immuno-gold. Cross-reactive proteins were identified in three H. mustelae strains, but not in Helicobacter pylori or Helicobacter felis. The hsr gene encoding this protein was cloned, and the protein expressed in Escherichia coli independently of vector promoters. The 1519-codon nucleotide sequence of the gene was determined, and comparison with the chemically derived protein sequence indicated a 47-residue leader pep-tide, and a mature protein with a molecular weight of 152 300. Thus the cell surface of H. mustelae differs markedly from other members of the genus Helicobacter in being covered by an array of 8.5 nm rings composed of a 150 kDa protein.     

A flagellar-specific ATPase (FliI) is necessary for flagellar export in Helicobacter pylori

Although flagellar motility is essential for the colonisation of the stomach by Helicobacter pylori, little is known about the regulation of flagellar biosynthesis in this organism. We have identified a gene in H. pylori, designated fliI, whose deduced amino acid sequence revealed extensive homology with the FliI/LcrB/InvC family of proteins which energise the export of flagellar and other virulence factors in several bacterial species. An isogenic mutant of fliI was non-motile and synthesised reduced amounts of flagellin and hook protein subunits. The majority (>99%) of mutant cells were completely aflagellate. These results suggest that FliI is a novel ATPase involved in flagellar export in H. pylori.     

Heat Shock Protein Produced by Helicobacter pylori

The cells of Helicobacter pylori were suspended in the medium containing³⁵S-methionine. After a heat shock of the cells at 42 C for 5, 10, and 30 min, the production of proteins was analyzed by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and autoradiography. Out of many proteins produced by the cells, only 66 kDa protein production was dramatically increased by heat treatment. The N-terminal amino acid sequence of 66 kDa protein was quite similar to that of 62 kDa and 54 kDa proteins previously suggested as heat shock protein (HSP) of H. pylori based on the reaction with polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies against HSP 60 family proteins produced by other bacteria. Therefore, it was concluded that H. pylori produces the 66 kDa protein as its major heat shock protein which belongs to HSP 60 family.     

Aflagellated mutants of Helicobacter pylori generated by genetic transformation of naturally competent strains using transposon shuttle mutagenesis

Three out of 10 Helicobacter pylori clinical isolates were found to be naturally competent for genetic transformation to streptomycin resistance by chromosomal DNA extracted from a spontaneous streptomycin-resistant H. pylori mutant. The frequency of transformation varied between 5 × 10^?4 and 4 × 10^?6, depending on the H. pylori isolate used. Transposon shuttle mutagenesis based on this natural competence was established using the flagellin gene flaA as the target. The cloned flaA gene was interrupted by insertion of TnMax1, a mini-Tn1721 transposon carrying a modified chloramphenicol-acetyltransferase gene, the cat_GC cassette. Natural transformation of competent H. pylori strains with plasmid constructs harbouring a cat_GC-inactivated flaA gene resulted in chloramphenicol-resistant transformants at an average frequency of 4 × 10^?5. Southern hybridization experiments confirmed the replacement of the chromosomal H. pylori flaA gene by the cat-inactivated cloned gene copy via homologous recombination resulting in allelic exchange. Phenotypic characterization of the mutants demonstrated the absence of flagella under the electron microscope and the loss of bacterial motility. Immunoblots of cell lysates of the H. pylori mutants with an antiserum raised against the C-terminal portion of recombinant H. pylori major flagellin (FlaA) confirmed the absence of the 54kDa FlaA protein. This efficient transposon shuttle mutagenesis procedure for H. pylori based on natural competence opens up new possibilities for the genetic assessment of putative H. pylori virulence determinants.     

Bioinformatic analysis of ESTs collected by Sanger and pyrosequencing methods for a keystone forest tree species: oak

Background

Helicobacter mustelae causes gastritis, ulcers and gastric cancer in ferrets and other mustelids. H. mustelae remains the only helicobacter other than H. pylori that causes gastric ulceration and cancer in its natural host. To improve understanding of H. mustelae pathogenesis, and the ulcerogenic and carcinogenic potential of helicobacters in general, we sequenced the H. mustelae genome, and identified 425 expressed proteins in the envelope and cytosolic proteome.

Results

The H. mustelae genome lacks orthologs of major H. pylori virulence factors including CagA, VacA, BabA, SabA and OipA. However, it encodes ten autotransporter surface proteins, seven of which were detected in the expressed proteome, and which, except for the Hsr protein, are of unknown function. There are 26 putative outer membrane proteins in H. mustelae, some of which are most similar to the Hof proteins of H. pylori. Although homologs of putative virulence determinants of H. pylori (NapA, plasminogen adhesin, collagenase) and Campylobacter jejuni (CiaB, Peb4a) are present in the H. mustelae genome, it also includes a distinct complement of virulence-related genes including a haemagglutinin/haemolysin protein, and a glycosyl transferase for producing blood group A/B on its lipopolysaccharide. The most highly expressed 264 proteins in the cytosolic proteome included many corresponding proteins from H. pylori, but the rank profile in H. mustelae was distinctive. Of 27 genes shown to be essential for H. pylori colonization of the gerbil, all but three had orthologs in H. mustelae, identifying a shared set of core proteins for gastric persistence.

Conclusions

The determination of the genome sequence and expressed proteome of the ulcerogenic species H mustelae provides a comparative model for H. pylori to investigate bacterial gastric carcinogenesis in mammals, and to suggest ways whereby cag minus H. pylori strains might cause ulceration and cancer. The genome sequence was deposited in EMBL/GenBank/DDBJ under accession number FN555004.     

Comparative ultrastructural and functional studies of Helicobacter pylori and Helicobacter mustelae flagellin mutants: both flagellin subunits, FlaA and FlaB, are necessary for full motility in Helicobacter species.

Helicobacter mustelae causes chronic gastritis and ulcer disease in ferrets. It is therefore considered an important animal model of human Helicobacter pylori infection. High motility even in a viscous environment is one of the common virulence determinants of Helicobacter species. Their sheathed flagella contain a complex filament that is composed of two distinctly different flagellin subunits, FlaA and FlaB, that are coexpressed in different amounts. Here, we report the cloning and sequence determination of the flaA gene of H. mustelae NCTC12032 from a PCR amplification product. The FlaA protein has a calculated molecular mass of 53 kDa and is 73% homologous to the H. pylori FlaA subunit. Isogenic flaA and flaB mutants of H. mustelae F1 were constructed by means of reverse genetics. A method was established to generate double mutants (flaA flaB) of H. mustelae F1 as well as H. pylori N6. Genotypes, motility properties, and morphologies of the H. mustelae flagellin mutants were determined and compared with those of the H. pylori flaA and flaB mutants described previously. The flagellar organizations of the two Helicobacter species proved to be highly similar. When the flaB genes were disrupted, motility decreased by 30 to 40%. flaA mutants retained weak motility by comparison with strains that were devoid of both flagellin subunits. Weakly positive motility tests of the flaA mutants correlated with the existence of short truncated flagella. In H. mustelae, lateral as well as polar flagella were present in the truncated form. flaA flaB double mutants were completely nonmotile and lacked any form of flagella. These results show that the presence of both flagellin subunits is necessary for complete motility of Helicobacter species. The importance of this flagellar organization for the ability of the bacteria to colonize the gastric mucosa and to persist in the gastric mucus remains to be proven.     

Metal-responsive gene regulation and metal transport in Helicobacter species

Helicobacter species are among the most successful colonizers of the mammalian gastrointestinal and hepatobiliary tract. Colonization is usually lifelong, indicating that Helicobacter species have evolved intricate mechanisms of dealing with stresses encountered during colonization of host tissues, like restriction of essential metal ions. The recent availability of genome sequences of the human gastric pathogen Helicobacter pylori, the murine enterohepatic pathogen Helicobacter hepaticus and the unannotated genome sequence of the ferret gastric pathogen Helicobacter mustelae has allowed for comparitive genome analyses. In this review we present such analyses for metal transporters, metal-storage and metal-responsive regulators in these three Helicobacter species, and discuss possible contributions of the differences in metal metabolism in adaptation to the gastric or enterohepatic niches occupied by Helicobacter species.     

Proteome analysis of highly immunoreactive proteins of Helicobacter pylori

Background. Identification of the immunoreactive proteins of Helicobacter pylori is important for the development of both diagnostic tests and vaccines relating to the organism. Our aim was to determine whether there are significant differences between human IgG and IgA reactivities to individual H. pylori proteins, and whether patterns of immunoreactivity are sustained across different strains of H. pylori. Method. The total complement of protein from seven strains of H. pylori was resolved by two‐dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (2D‐PAGE). Proteins were transferred electrophoretically onto polyvinylene difluoride (PVDF) membranes, which were probed with sera pooled either from H. pylori‐infected patients, or noninfected (control) patients. Highly immunoreactive proteins were detected using chromogenic enzyme‐antibody conjugates recognising either serum IgG or IgA. These proteins were then characterised by tryptic peptide‐mass fingerprinting using matrix‐assisted laser desorption/ionization time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry (MALDI‐TOF MS). Results. Highly immunoreactive proteins were detected which were common to all seven strains, and recognised by both immunoglobulin subclasses. The proteins appear to be localised in five groups. Protein analysis established that these groups encompass multiple isoforms of chaperonin HspB (two subgroups); urease β‐subunit UreB; elongation factor EF‐Tu; and flagellin FlaA. The pattern of highly immunoreactive proteins was strongly conserved across the seven strains. Conclusion. These results suggest that within a tightly defined region on the H. pylori proteome map there are five groups of proteins that are highly reactive to both IgG and IgA. Our analysis suggests it is unlikely that the highly immunoreactive clusters harbour any significant proteins other than isoforms of HspB, UreB, EF‐Tu and FlaA, and that, with the partial exception of FlaA, these clusters are strongly conserved across all seven strains.     

Helicobacter pylori hspA-hspB heat-shock gene cluster: nucleotide sequence, expression, putative function and immunogenicity

All Helicobacter pylori isolates synthesize a 54 kDa immunodominant protein that was reported to be associated with the nickel-dependent urease of H. pylori. This protein was recently recognized as a homologue of the heat-shock protein of the GroEL class. The gene encoding the GroEL-like protein of H. pylori (HspB) was cloned (plLL689) and was shown to belong to a bicistronic operon including the hspA and hspB genes. In Escherichia coli. the constitutive expression of the hspA and hspB genes was initiated from a promoter located within an IS5 insertion element that mapped upstream to the two open reading frames (ORFs). IS5 was absent from the H. pylori genome, and was thus acquired during the cosmid cloning process. hspA and hspB encoded polypeptides of 118 and 545 amino acid residues, corresponding to calculated molecular masses of 13.0 and 58.2 kDa, respectively. Amino acid sequence comparison studies revealed that, although H. pylori HspA and HspB proteins were highly similar to their bacterial homologues, the H. pylori HspA featured a striking motif at the C-terminus. This unique motif consists of a series of cysteine and histidine residues resembling a nickel-binding domain, which is not present in any of the other bacterial GroES homologues so far characterized. When the plLL689 recombinant plasmid was introduced together with the H. pylori urease gene cluster (plLL763) into an E. coli host strain, an increase of urease activity was observed. This suggested a close interaction between the HspA and HspB proteins and the urease enzyme, and a possible role for HspA in ihe chelation of nickel ions. The genes encoding each of the HspA and HspB polypeptides were cloned, expressed independently as proteins fused to the maltose-binding protein (WIBP) and purified in large scale. The MBP-HspA and MBP-HspB fusion proteins were shown to retain their antigenic properties. Both HspA and HspB represent antigens that are specifically recognized by the sera from H. pylori-infected patients. Whereas HspB was known to be immunogenic in humans, this is the first demonstration that HspA per se is also immunogenic as proteins fused to the maltose-binding protein (WIBP) and purified in large scale. The MBP-HspA and WlBP-HspB fusion proteins were shown to retain their antigenic properties. Both HspA and HspB represent antigens that are specifically recognized by the sera from H, py/or/-infected patients. Whereas HspB was known to be immunogenic in humans, this is the first demonstration that HspA per se is also immunogenic.     

The Hsp60 protein of Helicobacter pylori: structure and immune response in patients with gastroduodenal diseases

Helicobacter pylori is a human pathogen that has been associated with gastritis, peptic ulcer and gastric carcinoma. The role of the direct action of H. pylori virulence factors and of the induction of autoreactive immunity in the development of chronic gastritis has not been clarified yet. Here we report the cloning and molecular characterization of a gene of H. pylori coding for a protein of 58kDa, recognized by sera of patients affected by H. pylori-induced gastroduodenal diseases. This antigen is present in all the H. pylori strains tested and it belongs to the Hsp60 family of heat-shock proteins, with high homology with other bacterial and eukaryotic proteins of the same family. This class of homologous proteins has been implicated in the induction of autoimmune disorders in different systems. The presence in infected patients of anti-H. pylori Hsp60 antibodies, potentially cross-reacting with the human homologue, and cross-reactivity between human Hsp60 and a rabbit antiserum against H. pylori Hsp60 suggest that a role of this protein in gastroduodenal diseases is possible.     

Optimized BlaM-transposon shuttle mutagenesis of Helicobacter pylori allows the identification of novel genetic loci involved in bacterial virulence

Helicobacter pylori is an important etiologic agent of gastroduodenal disease in humans. In this report, we describe a general genetic approach for the identification of genes encoding exported proteins in H. pylori. The novel TnMax9 mini-blaM transposon was used for insertion mutagenesis of a H. pylori gene library established in Escherichia coli. A total of 192 E. coli clones expressing active β-lactamase fusion proteins (BlaM⁺) were obtained, indicating that the corresponding target plasmids carry H. pylori genes encoding putative extracytoplasmic proteins. Natural transformation of H. pylori P1 or P12 using the 192 mutant plasmids resulted in 135 distinct H. pylori mutant strains (70%). Screening of the H. pylori collection of mutant strains allowed the identification of mutant strains impaired in motility, in natural transformation competence and in adherence to gastric epithelial cell lines. Motility mutants could be grouped into distinct classes: (i) mutant strains lacking the major flagellin subunit FlaA and intact flagella (class I); (ii) mutant strains with apparently normal flagella, but reduced motility (class II), and (iii) mutant strains with obviously normal flagella, but completely abolished motility (class III). Two independent mutations that exhibited defects in natural competence for genetic transformation mapped to different genetic loci. In addition, two independent mutant strains were isolated by their failure to bind to the human gastric carcinoma cell line Katoill. Both mutant strains carried a transposon in the same gene, 0.8 kb apart, and showed decreased autoagglutination when compared to the wild-type strain.     

Protein changes in gastric epithelial cells RGM-1 in response to Helicobacter pylori infection

Helicobacter pylori-induced inflammation significantly increases the risk of gastric cancer. To investigate the role of H. pylori infection in gastric epithelial cell carcinogenesis, flow cytometry was used to analyze the apoptosis of gastric epithelial cells infected by H. pylori. Next, LTQ MS mass spectrometry (MS) was applied to identify protein changes in gastric epithelial cells infected with H. pylori, and then bioinformatics was adopted to analyze the cellular localization and biological function of differential proteins. LTQ MS/MS successfully identified identified 22 differential proteins successfully, including 20 host-cell proteins and two H. pylori bacterial proteins. Also, human proteins were located in all areas of cells and involved in various cell biological functions. The oncogene proteins p53, p16, and C-erbB-2 proteins in H. pylori-infected RGM-1 cells were remarkably increased from the analysis by Western blot analysis. H. pylori infection of gastric epithelial cells leads to changes in various protein components in the cell, and enhances the expression of oncogene proteins, thereby increasing the possibility of possibility of carcinogenesis of H. pylori infection.     

The HP0256 gene product is involved in motility and cell envelope architecture of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Helicobacter pylori</Emphasis>

Background  

Helicobacter pylori is the causative agent for gastritis, and peptic and duodenal ulcers. The bacterium displays 5-6 polar sheathed flagella that are essential for colonisation and persistence in the gastric mucosa. The biochemistry and genetics of flagellar biogenesis in H. pylori has not been fully elucidated. Bioinformatics analysis suggested that the gene HP0256, annotated as hypothetical, was a FliJ homologue. In Salmonella, FliJ is a chaperone escort protein for FlgN and FliT, two proteins that themselves display chaperone activity for components of the hook, the rod and the filament.     

Type I Restriction–Modification Loci Reveal High Allelic Diversity in Clinical Helicobacter pylori Isolates

Background: A remarkable variety of restriction‐modification (R‐M) systems is found in Helicobacter pylori. Since they encompass a large portion of the strain‐specific H. pylori genes and therefore contribute to genetic variability, they are suggested to have an impact on disease outcome. Type I R‐M systems comprise three different subunits and are the most complex of the three types of R‐M systems. Aims: We investigated the genetic diversity and distribution of type I R‐M systems in clinical isolates of H. pylori. Material and methods: Sixty‐one H. pylori isolates from a Swedish hospital based case‐control study and 6 H. pylori isolates of a Swedish population‐based study were analyzed using polymerase chain reaction for the presence of the three R‐M systems' subunits. Representative gene variants were sequenced. Results: Although the hsdM and hsdR genes appeared conserved in our clinical H. pylori isolates, the sequences of the hsdS loci were highly variable. Despite their sequence diversity, the genes per se were present at high frequencies. We identified a number of novel allelic hsdS variants, which are distinct from corresponding hsdS loci in the sequenced H. pylori strains 26695, J99 and HPAG1. In analyses of paired H. pylori isolates, obtained from the same individuals with a 4‐year interval, we observed genetic modifications of hsdS genes in patients with atrophic gastric mucosa. Discussion: We propose that the genetic variability of hsdS genes in a bacterial population will give rise to new specificities of these enzymes, which might lead to adaptation to an ever‐changing gastric environment.     

Genetic analysis of the Helicobacter pylori vacuoiating cytotoxin: structural similarities with the IgA protease type of exported protein

The human gastric bacterial pathogen Helicobacter pylori has been implicated in type B gastritis, peptic ulceration and gastric adenocarcinoma. Here we report on the cloning and genetic characterization of an H. pylori gene named vacA, which encodes the vacuolating cytotoxin VacA, a novel type of antigenic bacterial toxin that induces the formation of intracellular vacuoles in epithelial cells. The vacuolating cytotoxin activity is expressed by a subset of clinical isolates (Vac⁺), all of which produce the 87kDa cytotoxin antigen, but strains which produce neither the activity nor the cytotoxin protein (Vac⁻) also carry the gene, Isogenic H. pylori mutants in vacA generated by transposon shuttle mutagenesis produce neither the VacA antigen nor a vacuolating activity in a cell culture model. The vacA gene itself encodes a precursor protein of 139.6 kDa consisting of a 33-amino acid signal sequence, the 87 kDa cytotoxin and a 50 kDa C-termlnal domain with features typical of a bacterial outer membrane protein. The VacA precursor shows no significant primary sequence homology with any previously reported protein, but its structural organization closely resembles the IgA protease-type of exoprotein produced by pathogenic Neisseriae and Haemophilus species. Our current data support a model for secretion of the cytotoxin through the two bacterial membranes which involves the 50 kDa domain for outer membrane translocation with subsequent proteolytic cleavage and release of the mature 87 kDa cytotoxin into the extracellular environment.     

Helicobacter pylori infection‐induced H3Ser10 phosphorylation in stepwise gastric carcinogenesis and its clinical implications

Background

Our previous works have demonstrated that Helicobacter pylori (Hp) infection can alter histone H3 serine 10 phosphorylation status in gastric epithelial cells. However, whether Helicobacter pylori‐induced histone H3 serine 10 phosphorylation participates in gastric carcinogenesis is unknown. We investigate the expression of histone H3 serine 10 phosphorylation in various stages of gastric disease and explore its clinical implication.

Materials and Methods

Stomach biopsy samples from 129 patients were collected and stained with histone H3 serine 10 phosphorylation, Ki67, and Helicobacter pylori by immunohistochemistry staining, expressed as labeling index. They were categorized into nonatrophic gastritis, chronic atrophic gastritis, intestinal metaplasia, low‐grade intraepithelial neoplasia, high‐grade intraepithelial neoplasia, and intestinal‐type gastric cancer groups. Helicobacter pylori infection was determined by either ¹³C‐urea breath test or immunohistochemistry staining.

Results

In Helicobacter pylori‐negative patients, labeling index of histone H3 serine 10 phosphorylation was gradually increased in nonatrophic gastritis, chronic atrophic gastritis, intestinal metaplasia groups, peaked at low‐grade intraepithelial neoplasia, and declined in high‐grade intraepithelial neoplasia and gastric cancer groups. In Helicobacter pylori‐infected patients, labeling index of histone H3 serine 10 phosphorylation followed the similar pattern as above, with increased expression over the corresponding Helicobacter pylori‐negative controls except in nonatrophic gastritis patient whose labeling index was decreased when compared with Helicobacter pylori‐negative control. Labeling index of Ki67 in Helicobacter pylori‐negative groups was higher in gastric cancer than chronic atrophic gastritis and low‐grade intraepithelial neoplasia groups, and higher in intestinal metaplasia group compared with chronic atrophic gastritis group. In Helicobacter pylori‐positive groups, Ki67 labeling index was increased stepwise from nonatrophic gastritis to gastric cancer except slightly decrease in chronic atrophic gastritis group. In addition, we noted that histone H3 serine 10 phosphorylation staining is accompanied with its location changes from gastric gland bottom expanded to whole gland as disease stage progress.

Conclusions

These results indicate that stepwise gastric carcinogenesis is associated with altered histone H3 serine 10 phosphorylation, Helicobacter pylori infection enhances histone H3 serine 10 phosphorylation expression in these processes; it is also accompanied with histone H3 serine 10 phosphorylation location change from gland bottom staining expand to whole gland expression. The results suggest that epigenetic dysregulation may play important roles in Helicobacter pylori‐induced gastric cancer.     

Coccoid Helicobacter pylori Not Culturable In Vitro Reverts in Mice

An experimental rodent model was used to demonstrate the viability of the coccoid form of Helicobacter pylori. Concentrated suspensions were prepared for the two different morphologies: at 2 days incubation for the bacillary forms and at 20 days incubation for the “dormant” forms. The strains used for incubation were two fresh isolates from humans with duodenal ulceration, and two collection strains. Five hundred microliters of culture (OD₅₅₀ = 5 Mc Farland) of Helicobacter pylori with bacillary (2-5×10⁹ CFU/ml) and coccoid (0 CFU/ml) morphology were inoculated intragastrically in BALB/c mice. The gastric mucosa of the mice was colonized by Helicobacter pylori with the administration of fresh bacillary and coccoid cultures and not with the established cultures. Helicobacter pylori was isolated at 1 week after inoculation with the administration of fresh bacillary cultures, while fresh coccoid Helicobacter pylori was recovered in mice stomachs after 2 weeks of inoculation. After colonization, histopathologic changes occurred after 1 month from inoculation; all colonized mice showed a systemic antibody response to Helicobacter pylori. These results support the thesis of the viability of coccoid Helicobacter pylori non-culturable in vitro and confirm that concentrated bacterial suspensions are able to colonize and to produce gastric alterations in this suitable animal model.     

In silico experiment with an-antigen-toll like receptor-5 agonist fusion construct for immunogenic application to Helicobacter pylori

BACKGROUNDS:

Helicobacter pylori colonize the gastric mucosa of half of the world''s population. Although it is classified as a definitive type I carcinogen by World Health Organization, there is no effective vaccine against this bacterium. H. pylori evade the host immune response by avoiding toll-like detection, such as detection via toll-like receptor-5 (TLR-5). Thus, a chimeric construct consisting of selected epitopes from virulence factors that is incorporated into a TLR-5 ligand (Pseudomonas flagellin) could result in more potent innate and adaptive immune responses.

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

Based on the histocompatibility antigens of BALB/c mice, in silico techniques were used to select several fragments from H. pylori virulence factors with a high density of B- and T-cell epitopes.

RESULTS:

These segments consist of cytotoxin-associated geneA (residue 162-283), neutrophil activating protein (residue 30-135) and outer inflammatory protein A (residue 155-268). The secondary and tertiary structure of the chimeric constructs and other bioinformatics analyses such as stability, solubility, and antigenicity were performed. The chimeric construct containing antigenic segments of H. pylori proteins was fused with the D3 domain of Pseudomonas flagellin. This recombinant chimeric gene was optimized for expression in Escherichia coli. The in silico results showed that the conserved C- and N-terminal domains of flagellin and the antigenicity of selected fragments were retained.

DISCUSSION:

In silico analysis showed that Pseudomonas flagellin is a suitable platform for incorporation of an antigenic construct from H. pylori. This strategy may be an effective tool for the control of H. pylori and other persistent infections.     

Characterization of Helicobacter pylori Bacteriophage KHP30

Helicobacter pylori inhabits the stomach mucosa and is a causative agent of stomach ulcer and cancer. In general, bacteriophages (phages) are strongly associated with bacterial evolution, including the development of pathogenicity. Several tailed phages have so far been reported in H. pylori. We have isolated an H. pylori phage, KHP30, and reported its genomic sequence. In this study, we examined the biological characteristics of phage KHP30. Phage KHP30 was found to be a spherical lipid-containing phage with a diameter of ca. 69 nm. Interestingly, it was stable from pH 2.5 to pH 10, suggesting that it is adapted to the highly acidic environment of the human stomach. Phage KHP30 multiplied on 63.6% of clinical H. pylori isolates. The latent period was ca. 140 min, shorter than the doubling time of H. pylori (ca. 180 min). The burst size was ca. 13, which was smaller than the burst sizes of other known tailed or spherical phages. Phage KHP30 seemed to be maintained as an episome in H. pylori strain NY43 cells, despite a predicted integrase gene in the KHP30 genomic sequence. Seven possible virion proteins of phage KHP30 were analyzed using N-terminal protein sequencing and mass spectrometry, and their genes were found to be located on its genomic DNA. The genomic organization of phage KHP30 differed from the genomic organizations in the known spherical phage families Corticoviridae and Tectiviridae. This evidence suggests that phage KHP30 is a new type of spherical phage that cannot be classified in any existing virus category.