Proteomic and functional characterization of the outer membrane vesicles from the gastric pathogen Helicobacter pylori.

The gastric pathogen Helicobacter pylori causes a spectrum of gastro-duodenal diseases, which may be mediated in part by the outer membrane vesicles (OMVs) constitutively shed by the pathogen. We aimed to determine the proteome of H. pylori OMV to help evaluate the mechanisms whereby these structures confer their known immuno-modulatory and cytotoxic activities to host cells, as such disease-associated activities are also conferred by the bacterium from which the vesicles are derived.