Helicobacter pylori Attachment to Gastric Cells Induces Cytoskeletal Rearrangements and Tyrosine Phosphorylation of Host Cell Proteins

• Published in: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS Vol. 93; no. 3; pp. 1259 - 1264
• Main Authors: Segal, Ellyn D., Falkow, S., Tompkins, L. S.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 06.02.1996; National Acad Sciences; National Academy of Sciences
• Subjects: Actins; Adenocarcinoma; Antibodies; Bacteria; Bacterial Adhesion; Biopsies; Cell Line; Cell lines; Cellular biology; Cultured cells; Cytoskeletal Proteins - metabolism; Cytoskeleton - microbiology; Cytoskeleton - ultrastructure; Digestive system; Epithelial cells; Escherichia coli - pathogenicity; Fluorescent Antibody Technique; Helicobacter pylori; Helicobacter pylori - pathogenicity; Helicobacter pylori - physiology; Helicobacter pylori - ultrastructure; Humans; Infections; Microscopy, Confocal; Microscopy, Electron; Microscopy, Immunoelectron; Microvilli - microbiology; Microvilli - ultrastructure; Phosphoproteins - analysis; Phosphoproteins - metabolism; Phosphorylation; Phosphotyrosine - analysis; Stomach Neoplasms; Transmission electron microscopy; Tumor Cells, Cultured; Tyrosine - metabolism
• ISSN: 0027-8424; 1091-6490
• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.93.3.1259

The consequences of Helicobacter pylori attachment to human gastric cells were examined by transmission electron microscopy and immunofluorescence microscopy. H. pylori attachment resulted in (i) effacement of microvilli at the site of attachment, (ii) cytoskeletal rearrangement directly beneath the bacterium, and (iii) cup/pedestal formation at the site of attachment. Double-immunofluorescence studies revealed that the cytoskeletal components actin, α -actinin, and talin are involved in the process. Immunoblot analysis showed that binding of H. pylori to AGS cells induced tyrosine phosphorylation of two host cell proteins of 145 and 105 kDa. These results indicate that attachment of H. pylori to gastric epithelial cells resembles that of enteropathogenic Escherichia coli. Coccoid H. pylori, which are thought to be terminally differentiated bacterial forms, are capable of binding and inducing cellular changes of the same sort as spiral H. pylori, including tyrosine phosphorylation of host proteins.