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Review
. 2016 Jun 8;8(6):181.
doi: 10.3390/toxins8060181.

Use of VacA as a Vaccine Antigen

Mati Moyat  1 , Dominique Velin  2
Affiliations
Review

Use of VacA as a Vaccine Antigen

Mati Moyat et al. Toxins (Basel). .

Abstract

One of the major toxins secreted by H. pylori is the Vacuolating cytotoxin A (VacA) named after its ability to induce the formation of "vacuole"-like membrane vesicles in the cytoplasm of gastric cells. VacA has been associated with the disruption of mitochondrial functions, stimulation of apoptosis, blockade of T cell proliferation and promotion of regulatory T cells, thereby making it a promising vaccine target. Immunity to bacterial virulence factors is well known to protect humans against bacterial infections; hence, detoxified VacA has been evaluated as a vaccine antigen. Our short review summarizes the pre-clinical and clinical data that have been published on the use of VacA in the development of the H. pylori vaccine.

Keywords: H. pylori; VacA; vaccine.

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