Article The Rockefeller University Press $30.00

Infection with Helicobacter pylori cagA-positive strains is the strongest risk factor for the develop-ment of gastric carcinoma, the second leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide (Peek and Blaser, 2002; Parkin, 2004; Hatakeyama, 2008). The cagA gene encodes an 130–145-kD CagA protein, which is delivered via a bacterial type IV secretion system into gastric epithelial cells (Segal et al., 1999; Asahi et al., 2000; Backert et al., 2000; Odenbreit et al., 2000; Stein et al., 2000). Upon delivery, CagA is localized to the inner surface of the plasma membrane, where it undergoes tyrosine phosphorylation at the C-terminal Glu-Pro-Ile-Tyr-Ala (EPIYA) motifs by host cell kinases (Backert and Selbach, 2005)