In vitro surface properties of the newly recognized gastric pathogen Helicobacter pylori

There appears to be a particular association between Helicobacter pylori and the gastric antrum, but the mechanisms by which the organism adheres to and colonizes the gastric mucosa are unclear. Surface hydrophobicity and surface charge mediate the adherence of other bacterial pathogens to mucosal epithelial cell surfaces. Therefore, in this study we characterized both the surface hydrophobicity and the surface charge of 10 H. pylori strains grown in broth culture. Four complementary methods were used to determine hydrophobicity: hydrophobic interaction chromatography, the salt aggregation test, comparison of bacterial adherence to polystyrene with adherence to sulfonated polystyrene, and measurement of contact angle with droplets of water. Three of the methods (salt aggregation test, adherence to polystyrene, and contact angles) indicated that each of the 10 strains expressed a relatively hydrophilic cell surface. In contrast, hydrophobic interaction chromatography determinations with both phenyl- and octyl-Sepharose suggested that the H. pylori strains were relatively hydrophobic. However, tetramethyl urea (0.4 M) did not reduce the binding of H. pylori to phenyl-Sepharose columns. DEAE-cellulose ion-exchange chromatography showed that each of the 10 strains of H. pylori had a surface which, overall, was highly negatively charged. We conclude that H. pylori expresses an overall relatively hydrophilic and negatively charged surface in vitro.