CagL polymorphisms between East Asian and Western Helicobacter pylori are associated with different abilities to induce IL-8 secretion

Helicobacter pylori colonizes human gastric mucosa. Its infection is associated with gastric diseases including gastric cancer. CagA is one of the most important toxins produced by H. pylori. It is related to gastric cancer which can be injected into host cells via a type IV secretion system (T4SS). CagL is a structural component of T4SS apparatus, which triggers host cell signaling pathway. It has been reported that CagL polymorphisms may influence the severity of disease development. To explore the contribution of CagL polymorphisms between East Asian and Western H. pylori in pathogenesis, cagL gene in G27 H. pylori was swapped by K74 cagL which is identical to East Asian CagL consensus sequence and by Western 26695 H. pylori, resulting in G27 Delta cagL/cagL(K74) and G27 Delta cagL/cagL(26695), respectively. Intriguingly, G27 Delta cagL/cagL(K74) showed significantly less ability of IL-8 induction than G27 Delta cagL/cagL(26695) while displayed similar abilities of CagA phosphorylation, and cell elongation. Taken together, this study suggests that the CagL polymorphism may influence IL-8 induction, and K74 CagL has less ability to induce IL-8 secretion than G27 or 26695 CagL. Further research should address how the different capabilities of IL-8 induction between intraspecies-CagL are associated with the large differences of the incidence of gastric cancer between East Asian and Western countries.

Automated summary

This study investigated the role of CagL polymorphisms in the pathogenesis of Helicobacter pylori. The results showed that K74 CagL has less ability to induce IL-8 secretion compared to G27 or 26695 CagL. Further research is needed to explore how the different capabilities of IL-8 induction between intraspecies-CagL are associated with the large differences of the incidence of gastric cancer between East Asian and Western countries.