HtrA-Dependent E-Cadherin Shedding Impairs the Epithelial Barrier Function in Primary Gastric Epithelial Cells and Gastric Organoids

Impaired E-cadherin (Cdh1) functions are closely associated with cellular dedifferentiation, infiltrative tumor growth and metastasis, particularly in gastric cancer. The class-I carcinogen Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) colonizes gastric epithelial cells and induces Cdh1 shedding, which is primarily mediated by the secreted bacterial protease high temperature requirement A (HtrA). In this study, we used human primary epithelial cell lines derived from gastroids and mucosoids from different healthy donors to investigate HtrA-mediated Cdh1 cleavage and the subsequent impact on bacterial pathogenesis in a non-neoplastic context. We found a severe impairment of Cdh1 functions by HtrA-induced ectodomain cleavage in 2D primary cells and mucosoids. Since mucosoids exhibit an intact apico-basal polarity, we investigated bacterial transmigration across the monolayer, which was partially depolarized by HtrA, as indicated by microscopy, the analyses of the transepithelial electrical resistance (TEER) and colony forming unit (cfu) assays. Finally, we investigated CagA injection and observed efficient CagA translocation and tyrosine phosphorylation in 2D primary cells and, to a lesser extent, similar effects in mucosoids. In summary, HtrA is a crucially important factor promoting the multistep pathogenesis of H. pylori in non-transformed primary gastric epithelial cells and organoid-based epithelial models.