| Title | Geographic diversity in Helicobacter pylori oipA genotype between Korean and United States isolates |
|---|---|
| Author | Aeryun Kim1,2, Jing Lai1, D. Scott Merrell3, Ji-Hye Kim4*, Hanfu Su5*, and Jeong-Heon Cha1,5* |
| Address | 1Department of Oral Biology, Oral Science Research Center, Department of Applied Life Science, The Graduate School, BK21 FOUR Project, Yonsei University College of Dentistry, Seoul 03722, Republic of Korea, 2Department of Dental Hygiene, Gangdong University, Eumseong 27600, Republic of Korea, 3Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, Maryland 20814, USA, 4Department of Dental Hygiene, Baekseok University, Cheonan 31065, Republic of Korea, 5Affiliated Stomatology Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou Key Laboratory of Basic and Applied Research of Oral Regenerative Medicine, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510182, P. R. China |
| Bibliography | Journal of Microbiology, 59(12),1125–1132, 2021, |
| DOI | 10.1007/s12275-021-1450-8 |
| Key Words | Helicobacter pylori, oipA, outer membrane protein, geographic diversity |
| Abstract | Helicobacter pylori outer membrane inflammatory protein A (OipA) was originally named for its role in inducing inflammation in the host, as evidenced by high mucosal IL-8 levels. Expression of OipA is regulated by phase variation of a CT dinucleotide-repeat located in the 5region of the gene. However, little is known about OipA geographic diversity across isolates. To address this gap, we conducted a large-scale molecular epidemiologic analysis using H. pylori clinical isolates obtained from two geographically distinct populations: Korea and the United States (US). Most Korean isolates (98.7%) possessed two copies of oipA located at two specific loci (A and B) while all US isolates contained only one copy of oipA at locus A. Furthermore, most Korean oipA (94.8%) possessed three or less CT repeats while most US oipA (96.6%) contained five or more CT repeats. Among the two copies, all Korean H. pylori possessed at least one oipA ‘on’ phase variant while the single copy of oipA in US isolates showed 56.2% ‘on’ and 43.8% ‘off.’ Thus, host differences seem to have driven geographic diversification of H. pylori across these populations such that OipA expression in US isolates is still regulated by phase variation with 5 or more CT repeats, while Korean isolates always express OipA; duplication of the oipA combined with a reduction of CT repeats to three or less ensures continued expression. En masse, these findings suggest that diversity in the oipA gene copy number, CT repeats, and phase variation among H. pylori from different populations may confer a benefit in adaptation to particular host populations. |