Acid survival of Helicobacter pylori: how does urease activity trigger cytoplasmic pH homeostasis?

Abstract

Helicobacter pylori can survive for several hours at pH 1 in the presence of urea. Under these conditions, the organism maintains its cytoplasmic pH at a value close to neutral. The role of the cytoplasmically located urease enzyme in this process is a matter of debate. We propose that cytoplasmic ammonia generated by the action of urease is protonated by H+ ions leaking in from the acidic medium and that the NH4+ formed is extruded from the cytoplasm via an as-yet-unidentified transport system. This mechanism is compared with the general mechanism of cytoplasmic pH homeostasis in microorganisms.