Helicobacter pylori PqqE is a new virulence factor that cleaves junctional adhesion molecule A and disrupts gastric epithelial integrity

• Main Authors: Miguel S. Marques, Ana C. Costa, Hugo Osório, Marta L. Pinto, Sandra Relvas, Mário Dinis-Ribeiro, Fátima Carneiro, Marina Leite, Ceu Figueiredo
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2021-01-01
• Series: Gut Microbes
• Subjects: helicobacter pylori pathogenesis; bacterial proteases; bacteria-host interactions; junctional adhesion molecule a (jam-a)/f11r; proteomics; pqqe
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/19490976.2021.1921928

Helicobacter pylori infects approximately half of the world’s population and is the strongest risk factor for peptic ulcer disease and gastric cancer, representing a major global health concern. H. pylori persistently colonizes the gastric epithelium, where it subverts the highly organized structures that maintain epithelial integrity. Here, a unique strategy used by H. pylori to disrupt the gastric epithelial junctional adhesion molecule-A (JAM-A) is disclosed, using various experimental models that include gastric cell lines, primary human gastric cells, and biopsy specimens of infected and non-infected individuals. H. pylori preferentially cleaves the cytoplasmic domain of JAM-A at Alanine 285. Cells stably transfected with full-length JAM-A or JAM-A lacking the cleaved sequence are used in a range of functional assays, which demonstrate that the H. pylori cleaved region is critical to the maintenance of the epithelial barrier and of cell-cell adhesion. Notably, by combining chromatography techniques and mass spectrometry, PqqE (HP1012) is purified and identified as the H. pylori virulence factor that cleaves JAM-A, uncovering a previously unreported function for this bacterial protease. These findings propose a novel mechanism for H. pylori to disrupt epithelial integrity and functions, breaking new ground in the understanding of the pathogenesis of this highly prevalent and clinically relevant infection.