Effect of Helicobacter pylorion Polymorphonuclear Leukocyte Migration across Polarized T84 Epithelial Cell Monolayers: Role of Vacuolating Toxin VacA and cagPathogenicity Island

ABSTRACTHelicobacter pyloriinfection can induce polymorphonuclear leukocyte (PMNL) infiltration of the gastric mucosa, which characterizes acute chronic gastritis. The mechanisms underlying this process are poorly documented. The lack of an in vitro model has considerably impaired the study of transepithelial migration of PMNL induced by H. pylori. In the present work, we used confluent polarized monolayers of the human intestinal cell line T84 grown on permeable filters to analyze the epithelial PMNL response induced by broth culture filtrates (BCFs) and bacterial suspensions from different strains of H. pylori. We have evaluated the role of the vacuolating cytotoxin VacA and of the cagpathogenicity island (PAI) of H. pyloriin PMNL migration via their effects on T84 epithelial cells. We noted no difference in the rates of PMNL transepithelial migration after epithelial preincubation with bacterial suspensions or with BCFs of VacA-negative or VacA-positive H. pyloristrains. In contrast, PMNL transepithelial migration was induced after incubation of the T84 cells with cagPAI-positive and cagE-positiveH. pyloristrains. Finally, PMNL migration was correlated with a basolateral secretion of interleukin-8 by T84 cells, thus creating a subepithelial chemotactic gradient for PMNL. These data provide evidence that the vacuolating cytotoxin VacA is not involved in PMNL transepithelial migration and that the cagPAI, with a pivotal role for the cagEgene, provokes a transcellular signal across T84 monolayers, inducing a subepithelial PMNL response.