| Title | Helicobacter pylori outer membrane protein, HomC, shows geographic dependent polymorphism that is influenced by the Bab family |
|---|---|
| Author | Aeryun Kim1,2, Stephanie L. Servetas3, Jieun Kang1,2, Jinmoon Kim1,4, Sungil Jang1,2, Yun Hui Choi1,2, Hanfu Su1,2, Yeong-Eui Jeon1, Youngmin A. Hong1,2, Yun-Jung Yoo1,2, D. Scott Merrell3*, and Jeong-Heon Cha1,5,6* |
| Address | 1Department of Oral Biology, Oral Science Research Center, BK21 Plus Project, Yonsei University College of Dentistry, Seoul 03722, Republic of Korea, 2Department of Applied Life Science, The Graduate School, Yonsei University, Seoul 03722, Republic of Korea, 3Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, 4301 Jones Bridge Rd., Bethesda, MD 20814, USA, 4ATGen Ltd., Seongnam-si 13605, Republic of Korea, 5Department of Applied Life Science, The Graduate School, Yonsei University, Seoul 03722, Republic of , 6Microbiology and Molecular Biology Laboratory, Key Laboratory of Oral Medicine, Guangzhou Institute of Oral Disease, Stomatology Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, P. R. China |
| Bibliography | Journal of Microbiology, 54(12),846-852, 2016, |
| DOI | 10.1007/s12275-016-6434-8 |
| Key Words | Helicobacter pylori, OMP, babA, babB, babC, homC |
| Abstract | The array of outer membrane proteins (OMPs) found in Helicobacter pylori provides a crucial component for persistent colonization within the gastric niche. Not only does H. pylori harbor a wide number of OMPs, but these OMPs often vary across strains; this likely contributes to immune evasion, adaptation during long term colonization, and potentially differential disease progression. Previous work from our group described OMP differences among the Bab family (babA, babB, and babC) and Hom family (homA and homB) from 80 American H. pylori clinical isolates (AH) and 80 South Korean H. pylori clinical isolates (KH). In the current study, we expanded our investigation to include the less well characterized Hom family member, HomC. Overall, we identified and genotyped three homC variants: homCS, homCL, and homCM, in both populations. Similar to other polymorphic genes, the KH group showed less overall diversity, with 97.5% of strains harboring homCL. In contrast, a more heterogeneous profile was observed in strains derived from an American population; we found nearly equal distribution of homCS and homCL. Further analysis of the AH group identified associations between homC polymorphism and bab genotype; in AH strains, there was a significant association between homCL and carriage of babA at locus A. Since babA is an important virulence factor for the development of severe gastric disease, these data may suggest that homC polymorphism plays a role in H. pylori pathogenesis. |