Intoxication strategy of Helicobacter pylori VacA toxin

• Autores: Patrice Boquet, Vittorio Ricci
• Localización: Trends in microbiology, ISSN 0966-842X, Vol. 20, Nº. 4, 2012, págs. 165-174
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • VacA toxin from the cancer-inducing bacterium Helicobacter pylori is currently classified as a pore-forming toxin but is also considered a multifunctional toxin, apparently causing many pleiotropic cell effects. However, an increasing body of evidence suggests that VacA could be the prototype of a new class of monofunctional A�B toxins in which the A subunit exhibits pore-forming instead of enzymatic activity. Thus, VacA may use a peculiar mechanism of action, allowing it to intoxicate the human stomach. By combining the action of a cell-binding domain, a specific intracellular trafficking pathway and a novel mitochondrion-targeting sequence, the VacA pore-forming domain is selectively delivered to the inner mitochondrial membrane to efficiently kill target epithelial cells by apoptosis.