The Cloning and Partial Sequence Analysis of the Catalase Gene of Helicobacter pylori

Helicobacter pylori expresses significant quantities of a catalase, which may be an important virulence factor, modifying the effectiveness of the host polymorphonuclear cell responses to the organism at the gastric mucosal surface. Little is known about the structure of this enzyme. Hazell et al. [2] have shown that the native catalase is a structure is a tetramer with polypeptide subunits of 50 kDa. In addition, from other catalases it must also be assumed that is a metalloprotein containing a variable number of iron atoms.