Eiki Yamasaki

Helicobacter pylori VacA-induced Inhibition of GSK3 through the PI3K/Akt Signaling Pathway

Helicobacter pylori VacA toxin contributes to the pathogenesis and severity of gastric injury. We found that incubation of AZ-521 cells with VacA resulted in phosphorylation of protein kinase B (Akt) and glycogen synthase kinase-3β (GSK3β) through a PI3K-dependent pathway. Following phosphorylation and inhibition of GSK3β,β-catenin was released from a GSK3β/β-catenin complex, with subsequent nuclear translocation. Methyl-β-cyclodextrin (MCD) and phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase C (PI-PLC), but not 5-nitro-2-(3-phenylpropylamino)-benzoic acid (NPPB) and bafilomycin A1, inhibited VacA-induced phosphorylation of Akt, indicating that it does not require VacA internalization and is independent of vacuolation. VacA treatment of AZ-521 cells transfected with TOPtkLuciferase reporter plasmid or control FOPtkLucifease reporter plasmid resulted in activation of TOPtkLuciferase, but not FOPtkLucifease. In addition, VacA transactivated the β-catenin-dependent cyclin D1 promoter in a luciferase reporter assay. Infection of AZ-521 cells by a vacA mutant strain of H. pylori failed to induce phosphorylation of Akt and GSK3β, or release of β-catenin from a GSK3β/β-catenin complex. Taken together, these results support the conclusion that VacA activates the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway, resulting in phosphorylation and inhibition of GSK3β, and subsequent translocation ofβ-catenin to the nucleus, consistent with effects of VacA on β-catenin-regulated transcriptional activity. These data introduce the possibility that Wnt-dependent signaling might play a role in the pathogenesis of H. pylori infection, including the development of gastric cancer.

Essential domain of receptor tyrosine phosphatase β (RPTPβ) for interaction with Helicobacter pylori vacuolating cytotoxin

Helicobacter pylori produces a potent exotoxin, VacA, which causes progressive vacuolation as well as gastric injury. Although VacA was able to interact with two receptor-like protein tyrosine phosphatases, RPTPβ and RPTPα, RPTPβ was found to be responsible for gastric damage caused by VacA. To define the region of RPTPβ involved in VacA binding, we made mutants of human cDNA RPTPβ-B, a short receptor form of RPTPβ. Immunoprecipitation experiments to assess VacA binding to RPTPβ-B mutants indicated that five residues (QTTQP) at positions 747–751 of the extracellular domain of RPTPβ-B (which is commonly retained in RPTPβ-A, a long form of RPTPβ) play a crucial role in its interaction with VacA, resulting in vacuolation as well as Git-1 phosphorylation. Transfected cells expressing deletion mutant Δ752, which lacks QTTQP, or the double point mutant Δ747 (T748A,T749A) had diminished vacuolation in response to VacA. Treatment of RPTPβ-B and Δ747 (which have QTTQP at 747–751) with neuraminidase and O-glycosidase diminished their VacA binding, whereas chondroitinase ABC did not have an effect. No inhibitory effect of pleiotrophin, a natural RPTPβ ligand, on VacA binding to RPTPβ-B or Δ747 was observed, supporting the conclusion that the extracellular region of RPTPβ-B responsible for VacA binding is different from that involved in binding pleiotrophin. These data define the region in the RPTPβ extracellular domain critical for VacA binding, in particular the sequence QTTQP at positions 747–751 with crucial threonines at positions 748 and 749 and are consistent with a role for terminal sialic acids possibly because of threonine glycosylation.

Direct binding of gangliosides to Helicobacter pylori vacuolating cytotoxin (VacA) neutralizes its toxin activity

Gangliosides are target receptors for bacterial entry, yet those present in human milk exhibit a protective role against bacterial infection. Here, we show that treatment with ganglioside mixture at a concentration of 100 microg/mL resulted in significant inhibition of the vacuole formation activity of Helicobacter pylori vacuolating cytotoxin (VacA) in gastric epithelial cancer AZ-521 cells. All gangliosides (GM1, GM2, GM3, GD1a, GD1b, GD3 and GT1b) examined showed good neutralizing capacity against VacA. A pull-down assay was performed using lyso-GM1 coupled to Sepharose as the tagged polysaccharide polymer to capture VacA from H. pylori culture supernatant. GM1-VacA complexes were successfully precipitated, suggesting that GM1 binds directly to VacA. The hydrodynamic binding of lyso-GM1 and VacA measured by fluorescence correlation spectroscopy had a K(d) value of 190 nM. VacA also bound to lyso-GM1 at pH 2 corresponding to the physiological pH of human stomach. Collectively, these results showed that direct binding of H. pylori VacA to free gangliosides neutralizes the toxin activity of VacA. These findings offer an alternative insight into the role of gangliosides in VacA toxicity and the pathogenesis of H. pylori.

Cytotoxicity and recognition of receptor-like protein tyrosine phosphatases, RPTPα and RPTPβ, by Helicobacter pylori m2VacA

Helicobacter pylori vacuolating cytotoxin, VacA, induces vacuolation in mammalian cell lines. Sequence differences in the middle of VacA molecules define two families, termed m1VacA and m2VacA, which differ in cell specificity. Similar to m1VacA, m2VacA is activated by acid or alkali, which enhances its binding to cells. Immunoprecipitation experiments showed that, in AZ‐521 cells, activated m2VacA, similar to m1VacA, binds to two receptor‐like protein tyrosine phosphatases, RPTPα and RPTPβ suggesting that activated m2VacA as well as m1VacA may contribute to gastrointestinal disease following H. pylori infection. G401 cells express RPTPα, not RPTPβ, and responded to both m1VacA and m2VacA. HeLa cells likewise expressed RPTPα, not RPTPβ, but, in contrast to other cell lines, responded poorly to m2VacA. m1VacA associated with RPTPα of HeLa cells to an extent similar to that in other toxin‐sensitive cells, whereas activated m2VacA bound HeLa cell RPTPα less well, consistent with its low vacuolating activity against these cells. The molecular mass of RPTPα from HeLa cells is less than that of the protein from G401 cells, although their extracellular amino acid sequences are virtually identical, with only two amino acid differences noted. Different post‐translational modifications of RPTPα in HeLa cells may be responsible for the reduced susceptibility to m2VacA.

Determination of the Cleavage Site of the Presequence by Mitochondrial Processing Peptidase on the Substrate Binding Scaffold and the Multiple Subsites inside a Molecular Cavity

Mitochondrial processing peptidase (MPP) recognizes a large variety of basic presequences of mitochondrial preproteins and cleaves the single site, often including arginine, at the −2 position (P2). To elucidate the recognition and specific processing of the preproteins by MPP, we mutated to alanines at acidic residues conserved in a large internal cavity formed by the MPP subunits, α-MPP and β-MPP, and analyzed the processing efficiencies for various preproteins. We report here that alanine mutations at a subsite in rat β-MPP interacting with the P2 arginine cause a shift in the processing site to the C-terminal side of the preprotein. Because of reduced interactions with the P2 arginine, the mutated enzymes recognize not only the N-terminal authentic cleavage site with P2 arginine but also the potential C-terminal cleavage site without a P2arginine. In fact, it competitively cleaves the two sites of the preprotein. Moreover, the acidified site of α-MPP, which binds to the distal basic site in the long presequence, recognized the authentic P2 arginine as the distal site in compensation for ionic interaction at the proximal site in the mutant MPP. Thus, MPP seems to scan the presequence from β- to α-MPP on the substrate binding scaffold inside the MPP cavity and finds the distal and P2arginines on the multiple subsites on both MPP subunits. A possible mechanism for substrate recognition and cleavage is discussed here based on the notable character of a subsite-deficient mutant of MPP in which the substrate specificity is altered.

Uropathogenic specific protein gene, highly distributed in extraintestinal uropathogenic Escherichia coli, encodes a new member of H-N-H nuclease superfamily

BackgroundThe uropathogenic specific protein (Usp) and three OrfU proteins (OrfU1, OrfU2 and OrfU3) are encoded in the putative small pathogenicity island which is closely associated with Uropathogenic Escherichia coli. Although homology search revealed that Usp and OrfUs have a homology with nuclease-type bacteriocins, which possess H-N-H nuclease motif, and immunity proteins respectively, the molecular activity of these proteins was never investigated. In this study, we try to over-express Usp in E. coli, purify Usp and characterize its molecular activity.MethodRecombinant Usp protein was expressed in E. coli BL21(DE3) cells together with 6× Histidine tagged OrfU1 (OrfU1-His) protein, and purified with affinity chromatography using Ni2+ chelating agarose. The nuclease activity of the purified Usp was examined in vitro by using plasmid DNA as a substrate. The importance of H-N-H motif in nuclease activity of Usp was examined by site-directed mutagenesis study.ResultsWe revealed that pET expression vector encoding Usp alone could not be maintained in E. coli BL21(DE3), and insertion of the orfUs as well as usp in the constructed plasmid diminished the toxic effect, suggesting that co-expressed OrfUs masked the activity of Usp. To purify Usp protein, we employed the expression vector encoding untagged Usp together with OrfU1-His. A tight complex formation could be observed between Usp and OrfU1-His, which allowed the purification of Usp in a single chromatographic step: binding of Usp/OrfU1-His complex to Ni2+ chelating agarose followed by elution of Usp from the complex with denaturing reagent. The purified free Usp was found to have the nuclease activity, and the activity was constitutively higher than Usp/OrfU1-His complex. H-N-H motif, which is found in various types of nucleases including a subfamily of nuclease-type bacteriocin, had been identified in the C-terminal region of Usp. Site-directed mutagenesis study showed that the H-N-H motif in Usp is indispensable for its nuclease activity.ConclusionThis is the first evidence of the molecular activity of the new member of H-N-H superfamily and lays the foundation for the biological characterization of Usp and its inhibitor protein, OrfUs.

Identification of Helicobacter pylori VacA in human lung and its effects on lung cells

OBJECTIVE Prior reports suggested that infection with Helicobacter pylori was associated with respiratory diseases; pathogenetic mechanisms however, were not defined. We tested the hypothesis that VacA, an exotoxin of H. pylori, a gastric pathogen, was aspirated into the lung and could stimulate secretion of inflammatory cytokines by lung epithelial cells. METHODS The presence of VacA was determined by immunohistochemistry in surgical lung biopsy tissue samples from 72 patients with interstitial pneumonia. The effects of VacA on A549 human alveolar epithelial adenocarcinoma cells and normal human bronchial epithelial cells were determined. After incubation with VacA, the secretions of cytokines were measured by Multiplex Luminex(®) Assays. RESULTS VacA was detected with anti-VacA antibodies in bronchial epithelial cells and alveolar epithelial cells from 10 of 72 patients with interstitial pneumonia. VacA was more prevalent in lungs of patients with collagen vascular disease-associated interstitial pneumonia than in those of patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, nonspecific interstitial pneumonia and cryptogenic organizing pneumonia. Incubation of A549 cells and normal human bronchial epithelial cells with VacA for 24 h was cytotoxic, and resulted in vacuolation. VacA induced interleukin-8 production by A549 cells and normal human bronchial epithelial cells and interleukin-6 production by A549 cells. Based on multiplex screening, interleukin-8 and interleukin-6 were the primary secretory products induced by VacA. CONCLUSIONS H. pylori VacA is present in human lung and can induce interleukin-8 and interleukin-6 production by human lung cells. VacA could have a role in the pathogenesis of respiratory diseases by its cytotoxic effects and by inducing the secretion of interleukin-8 and interleukin-6 by targeted airway epithelial cells.

Salmonella enterotoxin (Stn) regulates membrane composition and integrity

SUMMARY The mechanism of action of Salmonella enterotoxin (Stn) as a virulence factor in disease is controversial. Studies of Stn have indicated both positive and negative effects on Salmonella virulence. In this study, we attempted to evaluate Stn function and its effects on Salmonella virulence. To investigate Stn function, we first performed in vitro and in vivo analysis using mammalian cells and a murine ileal loop model. In these systems, we did not observe differences in virulence phenotypes between wild-type Salmonella and an stn gene-deleted mutant. We next characterized the phenotypes and molecular properties of the mutant strain under various in vitro conditions. The proteomic profiles of the total cell membrane protein fraction differed between wild type and mutant in that there was an absence of a protein in the mutant strain, which was identified as OmpA. By far-western blotting, OmpA was found to interact directly with Stn. To verify this result, the morphology of Salmonella was examined by transmission electron microscopy, with OmpA localization being analyzed by immunogold labeling. Compared with wild-type Salmonella, the mutant strain had a different pole structure and a thin periplasmic space; OmpA was not seen in the mutant. These results indicate that Stn, via regulation of OmpA membrane localization, functions in the maintenance of membrane composition and integrity.

Development of an immunochromatographic test strip for detection of cholera toxin.

Because cholera toxin (CT) is responsible for most of the symptoms induced by Vibrio cholerae infection, detection of CT is critical for diagnosis of the disease. In this study, we constructed an immunochromatographic test strip for detection of CT (CT-IC) with polyclonal antibodies developed against purified recombinant whole CT protein. The detection limit of the CT-IC was 10 ng/mL of purified recombinant CT, and it could detect the CT in culture supernatant of all 15 toxigenic V. cholerae isolates examined, whereas no false-positive signal was detected in all 5 nontoxigenic V. cholerae isolates examined. The specificity of the CT-IC was examined with recombinant heat-labile toxin (LT), which shares high homology with CT, and it was revealed that the minimum detection limit for LT was 100 times higher than that for CT. In addition, lt gene-positive enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) was examined by CT-IC. The false-positive signals were observed in 3 out of 12 ETEC isolates, but these signals were considerably faint. The CT-IC did not develop false-positive signals with all 7 V. parahaemolyticus isolates. These results showed the high specificity of CT-IC and the feasible use of it for the detection and surveillance of toxigenic V. cholerae.

Recognition and processing of a nuclear-encoded polyprotein precursor by mitochondrial processing peptidase

The nuclear-encoded protein RPS14 (ribosomal protein S14) of rice mitochondria is synthesized in the cytosol as a polyprotein consisting of a large N-terminal domain comprising preSDHB (succinate dehydrogenase B precursor) and the C-terminal RPS14. After the preSDHB-RPS14 polyprotein is transported into the mitochondrial matrix, the protein is processed into three peptides: the N-terminal prepeptide, the SDHB domain and the C-terminal mature RPS14. Here we report that the general MPP (mitochondrial processing peptidase) plays an essential role in processing of the polyprotein. Purified yeast MPP cleaved both the N-terminal presequence and the connector region between SDHB and RPS14. Moreover, the connector region was processed more rapidly than the presequence. When the site of cleavage between SDHB and RPS14 was determined, it was located in an MPP processing motif that has also been shown to be present in the N-terminal presequence. Mutational analyses around the cleavage site in the connector region suggested that MPP interacts with multiple sites in the region, possibly in a similar manner to the interaction with the N-terminal presequence. In addition, MPP preferentially recognized the unfolded structure of preSDHB-RPS14. In mitochondria, MPP may recognize the stretched polyprotein during passage of the precursor through the translocational apparatus in the inner membrane, and cleave the connecting region between the SDHB and RPS14 domains even before processing of the presequence.