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Infection and Immunity, November 2001, p. 6769-6775, Vol. 69, No. 11
Max von Pettenkofer-Institut für
Hygiene und Medizinische Mikrobiologie,
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Munich, Germany
Received 16 April 2001/Returned for modification 22 May
2001/Accepted 18 July 2001
Helicobacter pylori produces a number of proteins
associated with the outer membrane, including adhesins and the
vacuolating cytotoxin. These proteins are supposed to integrate into
the outer membrane by
0019-9567/01/$04.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/IAI.69.11.6769-6775.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Outer Membrane Targeting of Passenger Proteins by
the Vacuolating Cytotoxin Autotransporter of Helicobacter
pylori
and
-barrel structures, characteristic of the
family of autotransporter proteins. By using the SOMPES (shuttle
vector-based outer membrane protein expression) system for outer
membrane protein production, we were able to functionally express in
H. pylori the cholera toxin B subunit genetically fused
to the C-terminal VacA domain. We demonstrate that the fusion protein
is translocated to the H. pylori outer membrane and that
the CtxB domain is exposed on the H. pylori surface.
Thus, we provide the first experimental evidence that the C-terminal
-domain of VacA can transport a foreign passenger protein to the
H. pylori surface and hence acts as a functional autotransporter.
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Max von
Pettenkofer-Institut für Hygiene und Medizinische Mikrobiologie,
Pettenkoferstr. 9a, D-80336 Munich, Germany. Phone: (49) 89-51605277. Fax: (49) 89-51605223. E-mail:
schmitt{at}m3401.mpk.med.uni-muenchen.de.
Present address: Creatogen AG, 86156 Augsburg, Germany.
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