A 12-amino-acid segment, present in type s2 but not type s1 Helicobacter pylori VacA proteins, abolishes cytotoxin activity and alters membrane channel formation.

Abstract excerpt

Helicobacter pylori, a gram-negative bacterium associated with gastritis, peptic ulceration, and gastric adenocarcinoma in humans, secretes a protein toxin, VacA, that causes vacuolar degeneration of epithelial cells. Several different families of H. pylori vacA alleles can be distinguished based on sequence diversity in the "middle" region (i.e., m1 and m2) and in the 5' end of the gene (i.e., s1 and s2). Type...

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