The Helicobacter pylori toxin VacA causes vacuolar degeneration in mammalian cell lines in vitro and plays a key role in peptic ulcer disease. Two alleles, m1 and m2, of the mid-region of the vacA gene have been described, and the m2 cytotoxin always has been described as inactive in the in vitro HeLa cell assay. However, the m2 allele is associated with peptic ulcer and is prevalent in populat...

A cytotoxin inducing vacuolation in HEp-2 cells was detected in 19 (3.1%) of 618 stool specimens from children with diarrhea but in none of 135 from control children. Common enteric pathogens were found in only two (10.5%) of the 19 cytotoxin-positive stool specimens. The vacuoles induced by stool filtrates resembled those induced by the vacuolating toxin (VacA) of Helicobacter pylori. The vacu...

Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori), a major cause of gastroduodenal diseases, produces VacA, a vacuolating cytotoxin associated with gastric inflammation and ulceration. The C-terminal domain of VacA plays a crucial role in receptor recognition on target cells. We have previously identified three proteins (i.e., RPTPα, RPTPβ, and LRP1) that serve as VacA receptors. These receptors contribute to th...

The vacA genotypes s1,m1 and s1,m2 were detected in 44 and 30% of Helicobacter pylori isolates, respectively, from patients with gastric mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma, compared to 26 and 56% of isolates, respectively, from individuals with gastritis. The vacA s1 genotype was significantly associated with, but not predictive of, the presence of vacuolating cytotoxin activity.

The vacuolating cytotoxin of Helicobacter pylori, VacA, enters the cytoplasm of target cells and causes vacuolar degeneration by interfering with late stages of endocytosis. By using indirect immunofluorescence and flow cytometry, we have demonstrated that VacA binds to specific high-affinity cell surface receptors and that this interaction is necessary for cell intoxication.

conclusions the most predominant vaca genotypes in our areas were s1/m2 and s1/m1, which regard as the genotypes with more virulence intensity. the h. pylori vacas1a, caga genotypes have a significant relationship with the presence of pud and gc in iranian patients with dyspepsia. results in this study, vaca genotypes s1/m2, s1/m1, s2/m2 and s2/m1 were determined in 43.4%, 19.3%, 13.2% and 6% o...

There are two alleles, m1 and m2, of the midregion of the vacuolating cytotoxin gene (vacA) of Helicobacter pylori which code for toxins with different cell specificities. Here we describe the construction of five chimeric strains in which regions of vacA were exchanged between the two genotypes. By analyzing the toxicity of these strains for HeLa and RK13 cells we have confirmed that a 148-ami...

Helicobacter pylori is the major triggering factor for gastric carcinoma, but only a small proportion of infected patients develop this disease. Differences in virulence observed among H. pylori strains, namely in the vacuolating cytotoxin vacA gene, may contribute to this discrepancy. Infection with vacA s1, i1 and m1 strains increases the risk for progression of gastric premalignant lesions a...

OBJECTIVE To detect antibodies to recombinant vacuolating cytotoxin (r-VacA) of Helicobacter pylori in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from patients with Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS). METHODS CSF samples from 13 patients with GBS (electrophysiologically classified as eight acute inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy (AIDP), four acute motor axonal neuropathy (AMAN), and one unexcitable...