TY - JOUR
T1 - Free-soluble and outer membrane vesicle-associated VacA from Helicobacter pylori
T2 - Two forms of release, a different activity
AU - Ricci, Vittorio
AU - Chiozzi, Valentina
AU - Necchi, Vittorio
AU - Oldani, Amanda
AU - Romano, Marco
AU - Solcia, Enrico
AU - Ventura, Ulderico
PY - 2005/11/11
Y1 - 2005/11/11
N2 - Helicobacter pylori releases VacA both as free-soluble and as outer membrane vesicle (OMV)-associated toxin. In this study, we investigated the amount of VacA released in each of the two forms and the role of each form in VacA-induced cell vacuolation in vitro. We found that: (1) free-soluble toxin accounted for about 75% of released VacA, while the remaining 25% was OMV-associated; (2) although OMV-associated VacA caused a statistically significant vacuolation, virtually all the vacuolating activity of a H. pylori broth culture filtrate was due to free-soluble VacA. While it is widely accepted that OMVs may represent an important vehicle for delivering virulence factors to the gastric mucosa, our results suggest that OMV-associated VacA could play a pathobiological role different from that of free-soluble toxin. This conclusion fits with mounting evidence that VacA exerts a large pattern of pathobiological effects among which cell vacuolation might not be the main one.
AB - Helicobacter pylori releases VacA both as free-soluble and as outer membrane vesicle (OMV)-associated toxin. In this study, we investigated the amount of VacA released in each of the two forms and the role of each form in VacA-induced cell vacuolation in vitro. We found that: (1) free-soluble toxin accounted for about 75% of released VacA, while the remaining 25% was OMV-associated; (2) although OMV-associated VacA caused a statistically significant vacuolation, virtually all the vacuolating activity of a H. pylori broth culture filtrate was due to free-soluble VacA. While it is widely accepted that OMVs may represent an important vehicle for delivering virulence factors to the gastric mucosa, our results suggest that OMV-associated VacA could play a pathobiological role different from that of free-soluble toxin. This conclusion fits with mounting evidence that VacA exerts a large pattern of pathobiological effects among which cell vacuolation might not be the main one.
KW - Cell vacuolation
KW - Gastric epithelial cells
KW - Helicobacter pylori
KW - Outer membrane vesicles
KW - VacA
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U2 - 10.1016/j.bbrc.2005.09.035
DO - 10.1016/j.bbrc.2005.09.035
M3 - Article
C2 - 16182250
AN - SCOPUS:25844501470
VL - 337
SP - 173
EP - 178
JO - Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications
JF - Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications
SN - 0006-291X
IS - 1
ER -