c-Src and c-Abl kinases control hierarchic phosphorylation and function of the CagA effector protein in Western and East Asian Helicobacter pylori strains.

Many bacterial pathogens inject into host cells effector proteins that are substrates for host tyrosine kinases such as Src and Abl family kinases. Phosphorylated effectors eventually subvert host cell signaling, aiding disease development. In the case of the gastric pathogen Helicobacter pylori, which is a major risk factor for the development of gastric cancer, the only known effector protein injected into host cells is the oncoprotein CagA.