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. 1997 Nov;65(11):4615–4619. doi: 10.1128/iai.65.11.4615-4619.1997

Detoxification of the Helicobacter pylori cytotoxin.

R Manetti 1, P Massari 1, M Marchetti 1, C Magagnoli 1, S Nuti 1, P Lupetti 1, P Ghiara 1, R Rappuoli 1, J L Telford 1
PMCID: PMC175662  PMID: 9353041

Abstract

Treatment of the Helicobacter pylori vacuolating cytotoxin with very low concentrations of formaldehyde resulted in abrogation of toxic activity in both a HeLa cell vacuolation assay and an in vivo assay of gastric epithelial damage. Detoxification had only a minimal effect on the integrity of the oligomeric or monomeric structure. The toxoid retained the ability to bind to target cells and to induce high-titer neutralizing antibodies after immunization of rabbits. Furthermore, oral immunization of mice with the toxoid resulted in protection against infective challenge with mouse-adapted strains of H. pylori. The sensitivity of the toxin to formaldehyde treatment suggests that a few lysine residues in the protein may be essential for toxic activity and that VacA detoxified in this manner may be a potential candidate for inclusion in a vaccine against H. pylori infection and disease.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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