The presence of various numbers of EPIYA tyrosine phosphorylation motifs in the CagA protein of Helicobacter pylori has been suggested to contribute to pathogenesis in adults. In this prospective study, we characterized H. pylori isolates from symptomatic children, with reference to the diversity of functional EPIYA motifs in the CagA protein and vacA isotypes, and assessed the potential correl...

Risk factors for gastric cancer are receiving renewed attention in light of the recent positive association of Helicobacter pylori infection with gastric cancer. The effect of H.pylori on the balance between oxidants and antioxidants in the stomach is not well known. In this study, we investigated if exposure of gastric cells to H. pylori increases oxidant-associated gastric epithelial cell inj...

We refer to the recent publication by Nakano and co-workers in Disease Models & Mechanisms (Nakano et al., 2016). This report claims that the Helicobacter pylori vacuolating cytotoxin (VacA) is the crucial factor inducing the activation of the host cell kinase for translocated CagA, Src, via a mechanism involving the receptor phosphatase RPTP-α using the human duodenum carcinoma cell line AZ-52...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Accumulating evidence indicates that a variety of infections contribute to the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis, but there is controversy concerning the impact of Helicobacter pylori infections in atherosclerosis. METHODS We evaluated seropositivity to H pylori and to its cytotoxin-associated gene A (CagA) product in a large, prospective, population-based study (n=684). ...

CagA, an oncogenic virulence factor produced by Helicobacter pylori, is causally associated with the development of gastrointestinal diseases such as chronic gastritis, peptic ulcers, and gastric cancer. Upon delivery into gastric epithelial cells via bacterial type IV secretion, CagA interacts with a number of host proteins through the intrinsically disordered C-terminal tail, which contains t...

Infection with Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) has been linked to various gastro-intestinal diseases; nevertheless it remains to be clarified why only a minority of infected individuals develop illness. Studies from the West have indicated that the cagA gene and the associated EPIYA genotype of H. pylori is closely linked to the development of severe gastritis and gastric carcinoma; however, as...

Helicobacter pylori (HP) infection, particularly when caused by strains expressing CagA, may be considered a concomitant cause of male and female reduced fertility. This study explored, in 87 HP-infected males, the relationship between infection by CagA-positive HP strains and sperm parameters. HP infection and CagA status were determined by ELISA and Western blotting; semen analysis was perfor...

BACKGROUND Strains of Helicobacter pylori that express the CagA protein are associated with a threefold increased gastric cancer risk as compared to H. pylori strains that do not express CagA. Screening and treatment only for CagA antibodies should target those individuals at highest gastric cancer risk while reducing the number of patients requiring antibiotics. We compared the costs and benef...

Helicobacter pylori Cag type IV secretion system (Cag-T4SS) is a multi-component transporter of oncoprotein CagA across the bacterial membranes into the host epithelial cells. To understand the role of unique Cag-T4SS component CagI in CagA translocation, we have characterized it by biochemical and microscopic approaches. We observed that CagI is a predominantly membrane attached periplasmic pr...

Infection with Helicobacter pylori is responsible for gastritis and gastroduodenal ulcers but is also a high risk factor for the development of gastric adenocarcinoma and lymphoma. The most pathogenic H. pylori strains (i.e., the so-called type I strains) associate the CagA virulence protein with an active VacA cytotoxin but the rationale for this association is unknown. CagA, directly injected...