Roles of Glu 349 and Asp 352 in membrane insertion and translocation by diphtheria toxin.

Acidic conditions within the endosomal lumen induce the T domain of receptor-bound diphtheria toxin (DT) to insert into the endosomal membrane and mediate translocation of the toxin's catalytic domain to the cytosol. A conformational rearrangement in the toxin occurring near pH5 allows a buried apolar helical hairpin of the native T domain (helices TH8 and TH9) to undergo membrane insertion. If the inserted hairpin spans the bilayer, as hypothesized, then the two acidic residues within the TL5 interhelical loop, Glu 349 and Asp 352, should become exposed at the neutral cytosolic face of the membrane and reionize. To investigate the roles of these residues in toxin action, we characterized mutant toxins in which one or both acidic residues had been replaced with nonionizable ones. Each of two double mutants examined showed a several-fold reduction in cytotoxicity in 24-h Vero cell assays (sixfold for E349A + D352A and fourfold for E349Q + D352N), whereas the individual E349Q and D352N mutations caused smaller reductions in toxicity. The single and double mutations also attenuated the toxin's ability to permeabilize Vero cells to Rb+ at low pH and decreased channel formation by the toxin in artificial planar bilayers. Neither of the double mutations affected the pH-dependence profile of the toxin's conformational rearrangement in solution, as measured by binding of the hydrophobic fluorophore, 2-p-toluidinyl-naphthalene 6-sulfonate. The results demonstrate that, although there is no absolute requirement for an acidic residue within the TL5 loop for toxicity, Glu 349 and Asp 352 do significantly enhance the biological activity of the protein. The data are consistent with a model in which ionization of these residues at the cytosolic face of the endosomal membrane stabilizes the TH8/TH9 hairpin in a transmembrane configuration, thereby facilitating channel formation and translocation of the toxin's catalytic chain.

Selection of diphtheria toxin active-site mutants in yeast. Rediscovery of glutamic acid-148 as a key residue.

Saccharomyces cerevisiae was transformed with expression plasmids carrying the DTA gene under control of the GAL1 promoter; colonies that formed under inducing conditions were selected; and plasmids from these colonies were screened for mutations in DTA that failed to block expression of the protein. Substitutions at three sites were identified, all of which are in the active-site cleft; and each of the substitutions reduced ADP-ribosyltransferase activity by > 10(5). The substitutions include a charge reversal mutation of a catalytically important residue (Glu148Lys) and replacements of either of two glycines (Gly22 and Gly52) with bulky residues. The fact that multiple mutations were identified in these same residues implies that there are relatively few sites at which substitutions ablate ADP-ribosyltransferase activity without blocking expression of the full-length protein. Incorporation of a primary attenuating mutation into the DTA gene allowed S. cerevisiae also to be used to select complementary secondary mutations which altered activity less drastically. Besides elucidating structure-activity relationships, mutations identified by these approaches may be useful in designing new vaccines.

The Schotten-Baumann reaction as an aid to the analysis of polar compounds: application to the determination of tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane (THAM).

The separation of polar, low molecular weight, water-soluble compounds from specimens prior to quantitation has long been a problem in analytical toxicology. Others have successfully used in situ derivatization, prior to extraction, to resolve this problem (1,3). An application of the Schotten-Baumann reaction leading to a simple extraction of tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane (THAM) followed by HPLC is presented. This may be a generic approach to the analysis of other polyhydroxy, water-soluble compounds.

Helicobacter pylori VacA toxin promotes bacterial intracellular survival in gastric epithelial cells.

Helicobacter pylori colonizes the gastric epithelium of at least 50% of the world's human population, playing a causative role in the development of chronic gastritis, peptic ulcers, and gastric adenocarcinoma. Current evidence indicates that H. pylori can invade epithelial cells in the gastric mucosa. However, relatively little is known about the biology of H. pylori invasion and survival in host cells. Here, we analyze both the nature of and the mechanisms responsible for the formation of H. pylori's intracellular niche. We show that in AGS cells infected with H. pylori, bacterium-containing vacuoles originate through the fusion of late endocytic organelles. This process is mediated by the VacA-dependent retention of the small GTPase Rab7. In addition, functional interactions between Rab7 and its downstream effector, Rab-interacting lysosomal protein (RILP), are necessary for the formation of the bacterial compartment since expression of mutant forms of RILP or Rab7 that fail to bind each other impaired the formation of this unique bacterial niche. Moreover, the VacA-mediated sequestration of active Rab7 disrupts the full maturation of vacuoles as assessed by the lack of both colocalization with cathepsin D and degradation of internalized cargo in the H. pylori-containing vacuole. Based on these findings, we propose that the VacA-dependent isolation of the H. pylori-containing vacuole from bactericidal components of the lysosomal pathway promotes bacterial survival and contributes to the persistence of infection.

Identification of the fifth axial heme ligand of chloroperoxidase.

Chloroperoxidase from Caldariomyces fumago catalyzes the peroxidative chlorination of organic acceptor molecules. From a variety of spectroscopic data, it had long been thought that chloroperoxidase possessed an active site structure similar to that of cytochrome P-450cam. Resonance Raman studies conducted with isotopically substituted enzyme proved conclusively that the fifth axial ligand to the ferriprotoporphyrin IX moiety of chloroperoxidase is indeed a cysteine thiolate (Bangcharoenpaurpong, O., Champion, P. M., Hall, K. S., and Hager, L. P. (1986) Biochemistry 25, 2374-2378). In this study, Ellman's reagent, 5,5'-dithiobis(2-nitrobenzoic acid), was used to ascertain which of the 3 cysteine residues in the primary structure of chloroperoxidase serves as the fifth axial heme ligand; two of the cysteine residues were earlier shown to be involved in a disulfide linkage. Apoprotein was labeled under denaturing conditions with 5,5'-dithiobis(2-nitrobenzoic acid). A unique peptide, containing the thionitrobenzoate adduct, was isolated via reverse phase HPLC following digestion with endoproteinase Glu-C. Amino acid and Edman sequence analysis revealed the fifth axial ligand in chloroperoxidase to be cysteine 29. Under reducing and denaturing conditions, incubation of apochloroperoxidase with Ellman's reagent resulted in 3 labeled residues. Proteolysis and isolation of the labeled peptides using reverse phase HPLC and subsequent Edman sequence analysis detected and identified the thionitrobenzoate adducts of each of the three cysteinyl peptides of chloroperoxidase.

Mutational analysis of the Helicobacter pylori vacuolating toxin amino terminus: identification of amino acids essential for cellular vacuolation.

The functional importance of the amino terminus of the Helicobacter pylori vacuolating cytotoxin (VacA) was investigated by analyzing the relative levels of vacuolation of HeLa cells transfected with plasmids encoding wild-type and mutant forms of the toxin. Notably, VacA's intracellular activity was found to be sensitive to small truncations and internal deletions at the toxin's amino terminus. Moreover, alanine-scanning mutagenesis revealed the first VacA point mutations (at proline 9 or glycine 14) that completely abolish the toxin's intracellular activity.

Chemical modification of chloroperoxidase with diethylpyrocarbonate. Evidence for the presence of an essential histidine residue.

Chloroperoxidase from Caldariomyces fumago is well documented as an extremely versatile catalyst, and studies are currently being conducted to delineate the fine structural features that allow the enzyme to possess chemical and physical similarities to the peroxidases, catalases, and P-450 cytochromes. Earlier investigations of ligand binding to the heme iron of chloroperoxidase, along with the presence of an invariant distal histidine residue in the active site of peroxidases and catalases, have led to the hypothesis that chloroperoxidase also possesses an essential histidine residue that may participate in catalysis. To address this in a more direct fashion, chemical modification studies were initiated with diethylpyrocarbonate. Incubation of chloroperoxidase with this reagent resulted in a time-dependent inactivation of enzyme. Kinetic analysis revealed that the inactivation was due to a simple bimolecular reaction. The rate of inactivation exhibited a pH dependence, indicating that modification of a titratable residue with a pKa value of 6.91 was responsible for inactivation; this data provided strong evidence for histidine derivatization by diethylpyrocarbonate. To further support these results, inactivation due to cysteine, tyrosine, or lysine modification was ruled out. The stoichiometry of histidine modification was estimated by the increase in absorption at 246 nm, and it was found that more than 1 histidine residue was derivatized when chloroperoxidase was inactivated with diethylpyrocarbonate. However, it was shown that the rates of modification and inactivation were not equivalent. This was interpreted to reflect that both essential and nonessential histidine residues were modified by diethylpyrocarbonate. Kinetic analysis indicated that modification of a single essential histidine residue was responsible for inactivation of the enzyme. Studies with [14C]diethylpyrocarbonate provided stoichiometric support that derivatization of a single histidine inactivated chloroperoxidase. Based on sequence homology with cytochrome c peroxidase, histidine 38 was identified as a likely candidate for the distal residue. Molecular modeling, based on secondary structure predictions, allows for the construction of an active site peptide, and implicates a number of other residues that may participate in catalysis.

Active-site mutations of diphtheria toxin: role of tyrosine-65 in NAD binding and ADP-ribosylation.

Previous studies have suggested that tyrosine-65 (Tyr-65) of diphtheria toxin (DT) is located at the active site. To investigate the role of Tyr-65 in NAD binding and the ADP-ribosylation of elongation factor-2 (EF-2), we changed this residue to alanine and phenylalanine by site-directed mutagenesis of a synthetic gene encoding the catalytic fragment of DT (DTA). The alanine mutant was greatly diminished in ADP-ribosylation activity (350-fold) and NAD-glycohydrolase activity (88-fold), whereas the phenylalanine mutant was reduced in these activities only slightly. Dissociation constants (Kd) for NAD binding were 15 microM for wild-type DTA, 26 microM for the phenylalanine mutant, and greater than 800 microM NAD for the alanine mutant. However, both mutant enzymes were found to bind adenosine with nearly equal affinity as wild-type DTA. These results support a model of ADP-ribosylation in which the phenolic ring of Tyr-65 interacts with the nicotinamide ring of NAD, orienting the N-glycosidic bond of NAD for attack by the incoming nucleophile in a direct displacement mechanism.

Identification of the minimal intracellular vacuolating domain of the Helicobacter pylori vacuolating toxin.

Helicobacter pylori secretes a cytotoxin (VacA) that induces the formation of large vacuoles originating from late endocytic vesicles in sensitive mammalian cells. Although evidence is accumulating that VacA is an A-B toxin, distinct A and B fragments have not been identified. To localize the putative catalytic A-fragment, we transfected HeLa cells with plasmids encoding truncated forms of VacA fused to green fluorescence protein. By analyzing truncated VacA fragments for intracellular vacuolating activity, we reduced the minimal functional domain to the amino-terminal 422 residues of VacA, which is less than one-half of the full-length protein (953 amino acids). VacA is frequently isolated as a proteolytically nicked protein of two fragments that remain noncovalently associated and retain vacuolating activity. Neither the amino-terminal 311 residue fragment (p33) nor the carboxyl-terminal 642 residue fragment (p70) of proteolytically nicked VacA are able to induce cellular vacuolation by themselves. However, co-transfection of HeLa cells with separate plasmids expressing both p33 and p70 resulted in vacuolated cells. Further analysis revealed that a minimal fragment comprising just residues 312-478 functionally complemented p33. Collectively, our results suggest a novel molecular architecture for VacA, with cytosolic localization of both fragments of nicked toxin required to mediate intracellular vacuolating activity.

Structure of the isolated catalytic domain of diphtheria toxin.

The structure of the isolated catalytic domain of diphtheria toxin at pH 5.0 was determined by X-ray crystallography at 2.5 A resolution and refined to an R-factor of 19.7%. The domain is bound to its endogenous inhibitor adenylyl(3'-->5')uridine 3'-monophosphate (ApUp). The structure of this 190-residue domain, which was expressed in and isolated from Escherichia coli, is essentially identical to the structure of the catalytic domain within whole diphtheria toxin determined at pH 7.5. However, there are two adjacent surface loops (loop 66-78 and loop 169-176) that exhibit clear differences when compared to the structure of the catalytic domain in whole diphtheria toxin. Although both loops are at the surface of the protein and are relatively flexible, the chain trace is well-defined in the electron density. The main structural difference is the closer approach of loops 66-78 and 169-176. We ascribe this structural change mainly to the absence of the neighboring transmembrane domain in the isolated catalytic domain as compared to whole diphtheria toxin. We suggest that this change represents the first step of the structural transition from the catalytic domain in whole diphtheria toxin to the translocated form of the domain. The changes are described in detail, and their implications for membrane translocation are discussed.

Protective antigen-binding domain of anthrax lethal factor mediates translocation of a heterologous protein fused to its amino- or carboxy-terminus.

The edema factor (EF) and lethal factor (LF) components of anthrax toxin require anthrax protective antigen (PA) for binding and entry into mammalian cells. After internalization by receptor-mediated endocytosis, PA facilitates the translocation of EF and LF across the membrane of an acidic intracellular compartment. To characterize the translocation process, we generated chimeric proteins composed of the PA recognition domain of LF (LFN; residues 1-255) fused to either the amino-terminus or the carboxy-terminus of the catalytic chain of diphtheria toxin (DTA). The purified fusion proteins retained ADP-ribosyltransferase activity and reacted with antisera against LF and diphtheria toxin. Both fusion proteins strongly inhibited protein synthesis in CHO-K1 cells in the presence of PA, but not in its absence, and they showed similar levels of activity. This activity could be inhibited by adding LF or the LFN fragment (which blocked the interaction of the fusion proteins with PA), by adding inhibitors of endosome acidification known to block entry of EF and LF into cells, or by introducing mutations that attenuated the ADP-ribosylation activity of the DTA moiety. The results demonstrate that LFN fused to either the amino-terminus or the carboxy-terminus of a heterologous protein retains its ability to complement PA in mediating translocation of the protein to the cytoplasm. Besides its importance in understanding translocation, this finding provides the basis for constructing a translocation vector that mediates entry of a variety of heterologous proteins, which may require a free amino- or carboxy-terminus for biological activity, into the cytoplasm of mammalian cells.

Active-site mutations of diphtheria toxin. Tryptophan 50 is a major determinant of NAD affinity.

The two active-site tryptophans of diphtheria toxin, Trp-50 and Trp-153, were individually or jointly replaced with phenylalanine or alanine by directed mutagenesis of a synthetic gene for the toxin's catalytic A fragment. Substitution of Trp-50 with alanine (W50A) decreased the ADP-ribosyltransferase activity by nearly 10(5)-fold and reduced NAD-glycohydrolase activity beyond the limits of our detection. Effects of the W153A mutation on these activities were less dramatic, < 40-fold decrease in ADP-ribosylation and < 10-fold decrease in NAD glycohydrolysis. The W50F and W153F substitutions caused only minimal reductions (< 2-fold) in enzyme activities and NAD affinity. Decreases in affinity for NAD in the initial, ground state complex, as measured by intrinsic protein fluorescence, correlated well with the reductions in enzyme activity. None of the mutations caused greater than a 10-fold decrease in NAD affinity for the ternary Michaelis complex in the ADP-ribosylation reaction; and none caused significant increase in susceptibility to proteolytic digestion by trypsin. The results indicate that Trp-50 is a major determinant of NAD affinity. Also, they identify this residue as a candidate for modification in the development of inactive forms of the toxin for use in vaccine development.

Fused polycationic peptide mediates delivery of diphtheria toxin A chain to the cytosol in the presence of anthrax protective antigen.

The lethal factor (LF) and edema factor (EF) of anthrax toxin bind by means of their amino-terminal domains to protective antigen (PA) on the surface of toxin-sensitive cells and are translocated to the cytosol, where they act on intracellular targets. Genetically fusing the amino-terminal domain of LF (LFN; residues 1-255) to certain heterologous proteins has been shown to potentiate these proteins for PA-dependent delivery to the cytosol. We report here that short tracts of lysine, arginine, or histidine residues can also potentiate a protein for such PA-dependent delivery. Fusion of these polycationic tracts to the amino terminus of the enzymic A chain of diphtheria toxin (DTA; residues 1-193) enabled it to be translocated to the cytosol by PA and inhibit protein synthesis. The efficiency of translocation was dependent on tract length: (LFN > Lys8 > Lys6 > Lys3). Lys6 was approximately 100-fold more active than Arg6 or His6, whereas Glu6 and (SerSerGly)2 were inactive. Arg6DTA was partially degraded in cell culture, which may explain its low activity relative to that of Lys6DTA. The polycationic tracts may bind to anionic sites at the cell surface (possibly on PA), allowing the fusion proteins to be coendocytosed with PA and delivered to the endosome, where translocation to the cytosol occurs. Excess free LFN blocked the action of LFNDTA, but not of Lys6DTA. This implies that binding to the LF/EF site is not an obligatory step in translocation and suggests that the polycationic tag binds to a different site. Besides elucidating the process of translocation in anthrax toxin, these findings may aid in developing systems to deliver heterologous proteins and peptides to the cytoplasm of mammalian cells.

Photoaffinity labeling of diphtheria toxin fragment A with 8-azidoadenosyl nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide.

Diphtheria toxin fragment A (DT-A) is an important enzyme in the class of mono(ADP-ribosyl)transferases. To identify peptides and amino acid residues which form the NAD(+) binding site of DT-A using a photoaffinity approach, the photoprobes nicotinamide 8-azidoadenine dinucleotide (8-N(3)-NAD) and nicotinamide 2-azidoadenine dinucleotide (2-N(3)-NAD) were synthesized. Binding studies gave an IC(50) of 2.5 microM for 8-N(3)-NAD and 5.0 microM for 2-N(3)-NAD. Irradiation of DT-A and low concentrations of [alpha-(32)P]-8-N(3)-NAD with short-wavelength UV light resulted in rapid covalent incorporation of the photoprobe into the protein. The photoincorporation was shown to be specific for the active site with a stoichiometry of photoincorporation of 75-80%. After proteolytic digestion of photolabeled DT-A, derivatized peptides were isolated using immobilized boronate affinity chromatography followed by reversed phase HPLC. Radiolabeled peptides originating from two regions of the protein were identified. Chymotryptic digestion produced labeled peptides corresponding to His(21)-Gln(32) and Lys(33)-Phe(53). Lys-C digestion gave overlapping peptides Ser(11)-Lys(33) and Ser(40)-Lys(59). Tyr(27) was identified as the site of photoinsertion within the peptide His(21)-Gln(32) on the basis of the absence of PTH-Tyr at the predicted cycle during sequence analysis and by the lack of predicted chymotryptic cleavage at Tyr(27). Within the second modified peptide Ser(40)-Lys(59), Trp(50) is the most probable site of modification. Identification of Tyr(27) as a site of photoinsertion is in agreement with its placement in the NAD binding site of the X-ray structure of the proenzyme DT-NAD complex [Bell, C. E., and Eisenberg, D. (1996) Biochemistry 35, 1137]. Trp(50) is far from the adenine ring in the crystallographic model; however, site-directed mutagenesis studies suggest that Trp(50) is a major determinant of NAD binding affinity [Wilson, B. A., Blanke, S. R., Reich, K. A., and Collier, R. J. (1994) J. Biol. Chem. 269, 23296-23301].

Probing the heme iron coordination structure of alkaline chloroperoxidase.

The mechanism by which the heme-containing peroxidase, chloroperoxidase, is able to chlorinate substrates is poorly understood. One approach to advance our understanding of the mechanism of the enzyme is to determine those factors which contribute to its stability. In particular, under alkaline conditions, chloroperoxidase undergoes a transition to a new, spectrally distinct form, with accompanying loss of enzymatic activity. In the present investigation, ferric and ferrous alkaline chloroperoxidase (C420) have been characterized by electronic absorption, magnetic circular dichroism, and electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy. The heme iron oxidation state influences the transition to C420; the pKa for the alkaline transition is 7.5 for the ferric protein and 9.5 for the ferrous protein. The five-coordinate, high-spin ferric native protein converts to a six-coordinate low-spin species (C420) as the pH is raised above 7.5. The inability of ferric C420 to bind exogenous ligands, as well as the dramatically increased reactivity of the proximal Cys29 heme ligand toward modification by the sulfhydryl reagent p-mercuribenzoate, suggests that a conformational change has occurred during conversion to C420 that restricts access to the peroxide binding site while increasing the accessibility of Cys29. However, it does appear that Cys29-derived ligation is at least partially retained by ferric C420, potentially in a thiolate/imidazole coordination sphere. Ferrous C420, on the other hand, appears not to possess a thiolate ligand but instead likely has a bis-imidazole (histidine) coordination structure. The axial ligand trans to carbon monoxide in ferrous-CO C420 may be a histidine imidazole. Since chloroperoxidase functions normally through the ferric and higher oxidation states, the fact that the proximal thiolate ligand is largely retained in ferric C420 clearly indicates that additional factors such as the absence of a vacant sixth coordination site sufficiently accessible for peroxide binding may be the cause of catalytic inactivity.

Active-site mutations of the diphtheria toxin catalytic domain: role of histidine-21 in nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide binding and ADP-ribosylation of elongation factor 2.

Diphtheria toxin (DT) has been studied as a model for understanding active-site structure and function in the ADP-ribosyltransferases. Earlier evidence suggested that histidine-21 of DT is important for the ADP-ribosylation of eukaryotic elongation factor 2 (EF-2). We have generated substitutions of this residue by cassette mutagenesis of a synthetic gene encoding the catalytic A fragment (DTA) of DT, and have characterized purified mutant forms of this domain. Changing histidine-21 to alanine, aspartic acid, leucine, glutamine, or arginine diminished ADP-ribosylation activity by 70-fold or greater. In contrast, asparagine proved to be a functionally conservative substitution, which reduced ADP-ribosylation activity by < 3-fold. The asparagine mutant was approximately 50-fold-attenuated in NAD glycohydrolase activity, however. Dissociation constants (Kd) for NAD binding, determined by quenching of the intrinsic protein fluorescence, were 15 microM for wild-type DTA, 160 microM for the asparagine mutant, and greater than 500 microM NAD for the alanine, leucine, glutamine, and arginine mutants. These and previous results support a model of the ADP-ribosylation of EF-2 in which histidine-21 serves primarily a hydrogen-bonding function. We propose that the pi-imidazole nitrogen of His-21 hydrogen-bonds to the nicotinamide carboxamide, orienting the N-glycosidic bond of NAD for attack by the incoming nucleophile in a direct displacement mechanism, and then stabilizing the transition-state intermediate of this reaction.

Probing the heme iron coordination structure of pressure-induced cytochrome P420cam.

Cytochrome P450cam was subjected to high pressures of 2.2 kbar, converting the enzyme to its inactive form P420cam. The resultant protein was characterized by electron paramagnetic resonance, magnetic circular dichroism, circular dichroism, and electronic absorption spectroscopy. A range of exogenous ligands has been employed to probe the coordination structure of P420cam. The results suggest that conversion to P420cam involves a conformational change which restricts the substrate binding site and/or alters the ligand access channel. The reduction potential of P420cam is essentially the same in the presence or absence of camphor (-211 +/- 10 and -210 +/- 15 mV, respectively). Thus, the well-documented thermodynamic regulation of enzymatic activity for P450cam in which the reduction potential is coupled to camphor binding is not found with P420cam. Further, cyanide binds more tightly to P420cam (Kd = 1.1 +/- 0.1 mM) than to P450cam (Kd = 4.6 +/- 0.2 mM), reflecting a weakened iron-sulfur ligation. Spectral evidence reported herein for P420cam as well as results from a parallel investigation of the spectroscopically related inactive form of chloroperoxidase lead to the conclusion that a sulfur-derived proximal ligand is coordinated to the heme of ferric cytochrome P420cam.

A dominant negative mutant of Helicobacter pylori vacuolating toxin (VacA) inhibits VacA-induced cell vacuolation.

Most Helicobacter pylori strains secrete a toxin (VacA) that causes structural and functional alterations in epithelial cells and is thought to play an important role in the pathogenesis of H. pylori-associated gastroduodenal diseases. The amino acid sequence, ultrastructural morphology, and cellular effects of VacA are unrelated to those of any other known bacterial protein toxin, and the VacA mechanism of action remains poorly understood. To analyze the functional role of a unique strongly hydrophobic region near the VacA amino terminus, we constructed an H. pylori strain that produced a mutant VacA protein (VacA-(Delta6-27)) in which this hydrophobic segment was deleted. VacA-(Delta6-27) was secreted by H. pylori, oligomerized properly, and formed two-dimensional lipid-bound crystals with structural features that were indistinguishable from those of wild-type VacA. However, VacA-(Delta6-27) formed ion-conductive channels in planar lipid bilayers significantly more slowly than did wild-type VacA, and the mutant channels were less anion-selective. Mixtures of wild-type VacA and VacA-(Delta6-27) formed membrane channels with properties intermediate between those formed by either isolated species. VacA-(Delta6-27) did not exhibit any detectable defects in binding or uptake by HeLa cells, but this mutant toxin failed to induce cell vacuolation. Moreover, when an equimolar mixture of purified VacA-(Delta6-27) and purified wild-type VacA were added simultaneously to HeLa cells, the mutant toxin exhibited a dominant negative effect, completely inhibiting the vacuolating activity of wild-type VacA. A dominant negative effect also was observed when HeLa cells were co-transfected with plasmids encoding wild-type and mutant toxins. We propose a model in which the dominant negative effects of VacA-(Delta6-27) result from protein-protein interactions between the mutant and wild-type VacA proteins, thereby resulting in the formation of mixed oligomers with defective functional activity.