The secreted Helicobacter cysteine-rich protein A causes adherence of human monocytes and differentiation into a macrophage-like phenotype

Dumrese, Claudia; Slomianka, Lutz; Ziegler, Urs; Choi, Sung Sook; Kalia, Awdhesh; Fulurija, Alma; Lu, Wei; Berg, Douglas E.; Benghezal, Mohammed; Marshall, Barry; Mittl, Peer R.E.

doi:10.1016/j.febslet.2009.04.027

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Volume 583, Issue 10 , Pages 1637-1643, 19 May 2009

The secreted Helicobacter cysteine-rich protein A causes adherence of human monocytes and differentiation into a macrophage-like phenotype

Edited by Renee Tsolis

Claudia Dumrese
- Center for Microscopy and Image Analysis, University of Zürich, Winterthurer Strasse 190, 8057 Zürich, Switzerland
Lutz Slomianka
- Institute for Anatomy, University of Zürich, Winterthurer Strasse 190, 8057 Zürich, Switzerland
Urs Ziegler
- Center for Microscopy and Image Analysis, University of Zürich, Winterthurer Strasse 190, 8057 Zürich, Switzerland
Sung Sook Choi
- College of Pharmacy, Sahmyook University, Seoul, South Korea
Awdhesh Kalia
- Department of Biology, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY, USA
Alma Fulurija
- Ondek Pty Ltd., Marshall Centre for Infectious Diseases and Training, University of Western Australia, Microbiology M502, L Block, QEII Medical Centre, Nedlands, WA 6009, Australia
Wei Lu
- Ondek Pty Ltd., Marshall Centre for Infectious Diseases and Training, University of Western Australia, Microbiology M502, L Block, QEII Medical Centre, Nedlands, WA 6009, Australia
Douglas E. Berg
- Department of Molecular Microbiology, Washington University Medical School, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA
Mohammed Benghezal
- Ondek Pty Ltd., Marshall Centre for Infectious Diseases and Training, University of Western Australia, Microbiology M502, L Block, QEII Medical Centre, Nedlands, WA 6009, Australia
Barry Marshall
- Ondek Pty Ltd., Marshall Centre for Infectious Diseases and Training, University of Western Australia, Microbiology M502, L Block, QEII Medical Centre, Nedlands, WA 6009, Australia
Peer R.E. Mittl
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Zürich, Winterthurer Strasse 190, 8057 Zürich, Switzerland
- Corresponding author. Fax: +41 44 6356834.

Received 13 February 2009; received in revised form 7 April 2009; accepted 16 April 2009. published online 23 April 2009.

Abstract

Helicobacter pylori genomes typically contain 8 or 9 genes that code for secreted and highly disulfide-bridged proteins designated Helicobacter cysteine-rich proteins (Hcp). Here we show that HcpA (hp0211) but not HcpC (hp1098) triggers the differentiation of human myeloid Thp1 monocytes into macrophages. Small amounts of HcpA cause the transition of round-shaped monocytes into cells with star-like morphologies, adherence to the culture dish surface, phagocytosis of opsonized fluorescent microspheres, and expression of the surface marker protein CD11b, all of which are indicative of a macrophage-like phenotype. We conclude that HcpA acts as a bacterial immune modulator similar to a eukaryotic cytokine.

Abbreviations: Mbp, maltose binding protein, NTA, nitrilotriacetic acid, FACS, fluorescence-activated cell sorting, BSA, bovine serum albumin, PBS, phosphate buffer saline, FITC, fluorescein isothiocyanate