Silvia Barone, and
John L. Telford*
IRIS, Chiron Srl, Via Fiorentina 1, 53100 Siena, Italy
Received 17 May 2005/ Returned for modification 22 July 2005/ Accepted 13 October 2005
| ABSTRACT |
|---|
|
|
|---|
| INTRODUCTION |
|---|
|
|
|---|
Two different VacA genotypes, m1 and m2, have been described which differ in a 300-amino-acid region, termed the midregion, of the p58 subunit of VacA (1). These two genotypes differ by about 50% in amino acid sequence in this region but share greater than 90% sequence identity in the rest of the protein (1). The m1 form of VacA is toxic to HeLa cells, but the m2 form is essentially nontoxic to these cells (1, 19). However, both forms are able intoxicate the rabbit kidney cell line RK13 and primary cultured human gastric cells (19). Also, the m2 phenotype is associated with duodenal ulcer and is prevalent in the Chinese population, in which there is high incidence of peptic ulcer and gastric cancer (10, 20). The lack of toxicity of the m2 form of VacA in HeLa cells is associated with the lack of cell surface binding, indicating differences in cell surface receptors for the two forms (19). Furthermore, analysis of the phenotypes of natural and artificial chimeras in this midregion have shown that the first N-terminal 35 amino acids of the midregion of the m1 form are essential for HeLa cell cytotoxicity and that the next 113 amino acids are required for full toxicity on HeLa cells (11).
The binding of VacA to specific high-affinity cell surface receptors has been shown by indirect immunofluorescence and flow cytometry and has been shown to be necessary for cell intoxication (9, 16). VacA can interact with target cells by binding to the 250-kDa receptor protein tyrosine phosphatase beta (RPTPß) (18, 27). Also, the appearance of RPTPß on HL-60 cells after treatment with phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) has been associated with the degree of vacuolation induced by VacA (17).
Here we describe the construction of five strains chimeric in the variable midregion of VacA and further define the amino acid sequences required for full toxicity in HeLa cells. These strains were used to investigate whether differences in toxicity defined by the midregion are associated with RPTPß. We show that although both the m1 and m2 forms of VacA are able to utilize RPTPß, the cell-specific cytotoxic phenotype of the midregion is independent of the appearance of RPTPß and RPTPß does not play a major role in the vacuolation of HeLa cells.
| METHODS AND MATERIALS |
|---|
|
|
|---|
|
Construction of H. pylori chimeric strains. To generate H. pylori chimeric strain SPM326/DSM233, a previously described counterselection approach was used (2). First, a recipient strain was created by the introduction of the sacB/kan cassette into the VacA gene of H. pylori. The sacB/kan cassette from pKSF was inserted into the EcoNI/XbaI sites of pBlueScriptKSp58, a plasmid containing a substantial portion of the vacA gene from the m1 strain SPM326. A kanamycin-resistant transformant (SPM326/KO), in which the sacB/kan cassette had integrated into the vacA chromosomal locus via allelic exchange, was selected.
PCR products chimeric for the vacA midregion were created using the strategy described by Ji et al. (11). Briefly, the left and right parts of the m1 and m2 genes were amplified using primers based on their respective sequences but with the 3' primer of the left part complementary to the 5' primer of the right part. The resulting PCR products were purified and mixed in a second PCR containing only the 5' primer of the left part and the 3' primer of the right part such that the desired PCR product would be obtained through annealing of the complementary regions of each PCR. Primers used for the generation of chimeric PCR products are shown in Table 2. The chimeric PCR products were inserted into the unique EcoNI/AflII sites of pBlueScriptKSp58 such that they replaced the m1-type gene sequences in this plasmid. The resulting chimeric delivery constructs were used to transform the recipient strain SPM326/KO, and transformants were selected according to their sensitivity to sucrose. The presence of the desired chimeric sequences within the vacA midregion was confirmed by PCR. A total of five different H. pylori strains, each chimeric for the midregion of VacA, were isolated (Fig. 1A and B).
|
|
Cell sorter analysis. HL-60 cells were incubated without or with 20 nM PMA for 24 h, washed with PBS, and fixed with 2% paraformaldehyde (15 min at room temperature). The cells were then permeabilized (20 min at room temperature) with permeabilizing solution (PS; PBS containing 1% bovine serum albumin and 0.5% saponin). After permeabilization the cells were washed with PS and incubated for 30 min at room temperature with anti-human RPTPß mouse monoclonal antibody (1:10) (BD Transduction Laboratories, San Diego, CA) or irrelevant mouse immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies (control) in PS. The cells were then washed in PS, followed by incubation with second antibody (1:50) (R-phycoerythrin-conjugated goat anti-mouse IgG; Johnson ImmunoResearch Laboratories) for 30 min at room temperature. After a washing with PBS, the samples were analyzed using a FACSCalibur (Becton Dickinson, Mountain View, CA) machine equipped with an argon laser emitting at 488 nm.
Statistical analysis. The paired t test was used to compare the differences in neutral red uptake between untreated and PMA-treated cells and between the different forms of VacA. P values are indicated. A P value of <0.05 was considered significant, and the Bonferroni adjustment was considered where appropriate.
| RESULTS |
|---|
|
|
|---|
Growth culture supernatants from these strains were prepared and concentrated 10-fold using 50% saturated ammonium sulfate. The presence of VacA in the concentrated supernatants was determined by immunoblot analysis using anti-rabbit sera raised against a recombinant m1 form of the protein. The results demonstrate that the chimeric strains expressed mature 87-kDa VacA protein (Fig. 1C). However, accurate quantification of the comparative levels of VacA is difficult, as antibodies to the m1 form of the protein recognize the m2 form less well (19). As expected, VacA was not expressed by strain SPM326/KO, which has the sacB/kan cassette integrated into the vacA chromosomal locus.
Concentrated growth culture supernatants from the chimeric and control strains were tested for vacuolating activity in an RK13 and HeLa cell assay. The titer of each supernatant was determined as the reciprocal of the dilution of each supernatant required to give 50% of the maximal neutral red activity of a twofold dilution of supernatant from wild-type SPM326. All strains displayed similar levels of cell vacuolation on RK13 cells, with titers from all strains falling within the range 0.125 to 0.056 (Fig. 2A). However, greater differences in vacuolating activity were observed on HeLa cells, with a range of titers from 0.667 to 0.105 (Fig. 2B). Statistical analysis of vacuolation by the least-diluted supernatants on RK13 cells indicated that only strains DAGS3 (P = 0.04) and KO (P = <0.01) were significantly different from SPM326 and strains AB25 (P = 0.02) and KO (P = <0.01) were significantly different from DSM233. This finding should be contrasted with HeLa cell results, where all strains of VacA were significantly different from SPM326 (Rescue P = 0.03) and DSM233 (data not shown). This reflects the target cell specificity of the m2 genotype. As expected, the highest titers were found for m1 strain SPM326 and strain SPM326/Rescue (0.125 and 0.105, respectively), which were both able to fully vacuolate HeLa cells. The lowest titer (0.667) was for m2 control strain SPM326/DSM233, with vacuolation only detected in the least-diluted preparations. Chimeric strain SPM326/DAGS3 with the smallest m2 replacement displayed a lower titer (0.196) and reduced vacuolation in HeLa cells compared to the parental SPM326 strain but only in concentrated supernatants diluted eightfold or more. Lesser toxicity again was observed for chimeric strain SPM326/DAGS2 (titer, 0.323), and toxicity was further reduced in the strains SPM326/DAGS1 (0.476) and SPM326/AB25 (0.476), which possess the largest m2 replacements of the chimeric strains. An inverse correlation appears to exist between the toxicity of VacA to HeLa cells and the size of the m2 coding sequence.
|
|
|
|
| DISCUSSION |
|---|
|
|
|---|
RPTPß has been identified as a cell surface receptor for VacA, and PMA-induced VacA sensitivity of HL-60 cells has been associated with the appearance of RPTPß in these cells (18, 27). By investigating whether variations in the midregion have an effect on the PMA-induced sensitivity of HL-60 cells, we have shown that the appearance of RPTPß increases the toxicity of both the m1 and m2 forms of VacA for this cell line. Furthermore, our data show that the cell-specific cytotoxic phenotype of the midregion seen with HeLa cells is also apparent for HL-60 cells but that it is independent of the appearance of RPTPß. It is currently understood that the mechanism by which VacA induces cellular vacuolation involves the binding of VacA to the plasma membrane, internalization by the cell, oligomerization to form anion-selective channels in endosomal membranes, and the formation of vacuoles due to the swelling of endosomal compartments (4). While there is no evidence to suggest that m1 and m2 forms of the protein differ in any activity other than binding, we cannot exclude the possibility that minor differences in the cellular responses are due in part to functional differences between the toxins. However, it has been demonstrated that lack of toxicity of the m2 form of VacA in HeLa cells correlates with lack of cell surface binding and, furthermore, that the cell-specific phenotype is due to the different binding specificities of the m1 and m2 forms of the protein (19, 25). It would appear that another receptor (other than RPTPß) exists in HL-60 cells which accounts for the greater sensitivity to the m1 form of the protein. A recent study found that VacA caused cellular vacuolation of primary gastric epithelial cells from RPTPß/ mice and suggested the presence of other receptors for VacA (8).
To elucidate the role RPTPß plays in VacA cytotoxicity in HeLa and RK13 cells, the effect of PMA on RPTPß levels in these cell lines was monitored and the subsequent toxicity of our chimeric strains measured. As HeLa cells are sensitive to m1 VacA but less sensitive to the m2 toxin and considering our findings that the differences in toxicity between the m1 and m2 forms are independent of RPTPß, it would be unexpected if this protein were a principle VacA receptor on HeLa cells. Indeed, our results demonstrate that the appearance of RPTPß on HeLa cells had little effect on vacuolation by m1, m2, and chimeric forms of VacA. RK13 cells are sensitive to both the m1 and m2 forms of the protein, and it is therefore possible that RPTPß is the common receptor on these cells. This requires further investigation, as stimulation of RK13 cells with PMA had little effect on both RPTPß levels detected by immunofluorescence and vacuolation by m1, m2, or chimeric strains. Although the interaction of VacA with RPTPß has been characterized in the greatest detail, a number of other cell surface proteins have been proposed as receptors for VacA. Seto et al. (23) have proposed that the EGF receptor is the VacA receptor in HeLa cells. A more recent study has identified receptor protein tyrosine phosphatase alpha (RPTP
) as the VacA receptor in G401 cells, a cell line that does not express RPTPß (26). As well as interaction of VacA with putative receptors, high-affinity interactions between VacA and glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored proteins within cholesterol-glycosphingolipid-enriched domains ("rafts") have been identified (22). It appears that VacA has a number of cell surface receptors and may bind to multiple sites on the cell surface. Finding an association between these and the m1/m2 phenotype of VacA may provide useful insight into its mechanism of action and reasons why this polymorphism may have evolved.
| ACKNOWLEDGMENTS |
|---|
We are grateful to S. Pasquini, L. Fini, and S. Magi for medium preparation. We thank A. Muzzi for synthesis of the oligonucleotides and S. Guidotti for automated sequencing. We also thank S. Nuti and S. Tavarini for their assistance with the cell sorter analysis.
| FOOTNOTES |
|---|
Present address: Venetian Institute of Molecular Medicine, Via Orus 2, 35129 Padova, Italy. ![]()
| REFERENCES |
|---|
|
|
|---|
| 1. | Atherton, J. C., P. Cao, R. M. Peek, Jr., M. K. Tummuru, M. J. Blaser, and T. L. Cover. 1995. Mosaicism in vacuolating cytotoxin alleles of Helicobacter pylori. Association of specific vacA types with cytotoxin production and peptic ulceration. J. Biol. Chem. 270:17771-17777. |
| 2. | Copass, M., G. Grandi, and R. Rappuoli. 1997. Introduction of unmarked mutations in the Helicobacter pylori vacA gene with a sucrose sensitivity marker. Infect. Immun. 65:1949-1952.[Abstract] |
| 3. | Covacci, A., J. L. Telford, G. Del Giudice, J. Parsonnet, and R. Rappuoli. 1999. Helicobacter pylori virulence and genetic geography. Science 284:1328-1333. |
| 4. | Cover, T. L., and S. R. Blanke. 2005. Helicobacter pylori VacA, a paradigm for toxin multifunctionality. Nat. Rev. Microbiol. 3:320-332.[CrossRef][Medline] |
| 5. | Cover, T. L., W. Puryear, G. I. Perez-Perez, and M. J. Blaser. 1991. Effect of urease on HeLa cell vacuolation induced by Helicobacter pylori cytotoxin. Infect. Immun. 59:1264-1270. |
| 6. | de Bernard, M., D. Burroni, E. Papini, R. Rappuoli, J. Telford, and C. Montecucco. 1998. Identification of the Helicobacter pylori VacA toxin domain active in the cell cytosol. Infect. Immun. 66:6014-6016. |
| 7. | de Bernard, M., E. Papini, V. de Filippis, E. Gottardi, J. Telford, R. Manetti, A. Fontana, R. Rappuoli, and C. Montecucco. 1995. Low pH activates the vacuolating toxin of Helicobacter pylori, which becomes acid and pepsin resistant. J. Biol. Chem. 270:23937-23940. |
| 8. | Fujikawa, A., D. Shirasaka, S. Yamamoto, H. Ota, K. Yahiro, M. Fukada, T. Shintani, A. Wada, N. Aoyama, T. Hirayama, H. Fukamachi, and M. Noda. 2003. Mice deficient in protein tyrosine phosphatase receptor type Z are resistant to gastric ulcer induction by VacA of Helicobacter pylori. Nat. Genet. 33:375-381.[CrossRef][Medline] |
| 9. | Garner, J. A., and T. L. Cover. 1996. Binding and internalization of the Helicobacter pylori vacuolating cytotoxin by epithelial cells. Infect. Immun. 64:4197-4203.[Abstract] |
| 10. | Go, M. F., L. Cissell, and D. Y. Graham. 1998. Failure to confirm association of vacA gene mosaicism with duodenal ulcer disease. Scand. J. Gastroenterol. 33:132-136.[CrossRef][Medline] |
| 11. | Ji, X., T. Fernandez, D. Burroni, C. Pagliaccia, J. C. Atherton, J. M. Reyrat, R. Rappuoli, and J. L. Telford. 2000. Cell specificity of Helicobacter pylori cytotoxin is determined by a short region in the polymorphic midregion. Infect. Immun. 68:3754-3757. |
| 12. | Leunk, R. D., P. T. Johnson, B. C. David, W. G. Kraft, and D. R. Morgan. 1988. Cytotoxic activity in broth-culture filtrates of Campylobacter pylori. J. Med. Microbiol. 26:93-99.[Abstract] |
| 13. | Lupetti, P., J. E. Heuser, R. Manetti, P. Massari, S. Lanzavecchia, P. L. Bellon, R. Dallai, R. Rappuoli, and J. L. Telford. 1996. Oligomeric and subunit structure of the Helicobacter pylori vacuolating cytotoxin. J. Cell Biol. 133:801-807. |
| 14. | Marchetti, M., B. Arico, D. Burroni, N. Figura, R. Rappuoli, and P. Ghiara. 1995. Development of a mouse model of Helicobacter pylori infection that mimics human disease. Science 267:1655-1658. |
| 15. | Marshall, B. J., and J. R. Warren. 1984. Unidentified curved bacilli in the stomach of patients with gastritis and peptic ulceration. Lancet i:1311-1315. |
| 16. | Massari, P., R. Manetti, D. Burroni, S. Nuti, N. Norais, R. Rappuoli, and J. L. Telford. 1998. Binding of the Helicobacter pylori vacuolating cytotoxin to target cells. Infect. Immun. 66:3981-3984. |
| 17. | Ogura, K., S. Maeda, M. Nakao, T. Watanabe, M. Tada, T. Kyutoku, H. Yoshida, Y. Shiratori, and M. Omata. 2000. Virulence factors of Helicobacter pylori responsible for gastric diseases in Mongolian gerbil. J. Exp. Med. 192:1601-1610. |
| 18. | Padilla, P. I., A. Wada, K. Yahiro, M. Kimura, T. Niidome, H. Aoyagi, A. Kumatori, M. Anami, T. Hayashi, J. Fujisawa, H. Saito, J. Moss, and T. Hirayama. 2000. Morphologic differentiation of HL-60 cells is associated with appearance of RPTPß and induction of Helicobacter pylori VacA sensitivity. J. Biol. Chem. 275:15200-15206. |
| 19. | Pagliaccia, C., M. de Bernard, P. Lupetti, X. Ji, D. Burroni, T. L. Cover, E. Papini, R. Rappuoli, J. L. Telford, and J. M. Reyrat. 1998. The m2 form of the Helicobacter pylori cytotoxin has cell type-specific vacuolating activity. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 95:10212-10217. |
| 20. | Pan, Z. J., D. E. Berg, R. W. van der Hulst, W. W. Su, A. Raudonikiene, S. D. Xiao, J. Dankert, G. N. Tytgat, and A. van der Ende. 1998. Prevalence of vacuolating cytotoxin production and distribution of distinct vacA alleles in Helicobacter pylori from China. J. Infect. Dis. 178:220-226.[Medline] |
| 21. | Reyrat, J. M., S. Lanzavecchia, P. Lupetti, M. de Bernard, C. Pagliaccia, V. Pelicic, M. Charrel, C. Ulivieri, N. Norais, X. Ji, V. Cabiaux, E. Papini, R. Rappuoli, and J. L. Telford. 1999. 3D imaging of the 58 kDa cell binding subunit of the Helicobacter pylori cytotoxin. J. Mol. Biol. 290:459-470.[CrossRef][Medline] |
| 22. | Ricci, V., A. Galmiche, A. Doye, V. Necchi, E. Solcia, and P. Boquet. 2000. High cell sensitivity to Helicobacter pylori VacA toxin depends on a GPI-anchored protein and is not blocked by inhibition of the clathrin-mediated pathway of endocytosis. Mol. Biol. Cell 11:3897-3909. |
| 23. | Seto, K., Y. Hayashi-Kuwabara, T. Yoneta, H. Suda, H. Tamaki. 1998. Vacuolation induced by cytotoxin from Helicobacter pylori is mediated by the EGF receptor in HeLa cells. FEBS Lett. 431:347-350.[CrossRef][Medline] |
| 24. | Telford, J. L., P. Ghiara, M. Dell'Orco, M. Comanducci, D. Burroni, M. Bugnoli, M. F. Tecce, S. Censini, A. Covacci, Z. Xiang, Z., E. Papini, C. Montecucco, L. Parente, and R. Rappuoli. 1994. Gene structure of the Helicobacter pylori cytotoxin and evidence of its key role in gastric disease. J. Exp. Med. 179:1653-1658. |
| 25. | Wang, W. C., H. J. Wang, and C. H. Kuo. 2001. Two distinctive cell binding patterns by vacuolating toxin fused with glutathione S-transferase: one high-affinity m1-specific binding and the other lower-affinity binding for variant m forms. Biochemistry 40:11887-11896.[CrossRef][Medline] |
| 26. | Yahiro, K., A. Wada, M. Nakayama, T. Kimura, K. Ogushi, T. Niidome, H. Aoyagi, K. Yoshino, K. Yonezawa, J. Moss, and T. Hirayama. 2003. Protein-tyrosine phosphatase alpha, RPTP , is a Helicobacter pylori VacA receptor. J. Biol. Chem. 278:19183-19189. |
| 27. | Yahiro, K., T. Niidome, M. Kimura, T. Hatakeyama, H. Aoyagi, H. Kurazono, K. Imagawa, A. Wada, J. Moss, and T. Hirayama. 1999. Activation of Helicobacter pylori VacA toxin by alkaline or acid conditions increases its binding to a 250-kDa receptor protein-tyrosine phosphatase beta. J. Biol. Chem. 274:36693-36699. |
This article has been cited by other articles:
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| J. Bacteriol. | J. Virol. | Eukaryot. Cell |
|---|
| Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev. | Clin. Vaccine Immunol. | All ASM Journals |
|---|