AIM: To construct ItB-ureB fusion gene and its prokaryotic expression system and identify immunity and adjuvanticity of the expressed recombinant protein.METHODS: The ureB gene from a clinical Helicobacterpylori(Hpylori) strain Y06 and the ItB gene from Escherichiacoli(E coli) strain 44851 were linked into ItB-ureB fusiongene by PCR. The fusion gene sequence was analyzedafter T-A cloning. A prokaryotic recombinant expressionvector pET32a inserted with ItB-ureB fusion gene (pET32aItB-ureB) was constructed. Expression of the recombinantLTB-UreB protein (rLTB-UreB)in E. coliBL21DE3 inducedby isopropylthio-β-D-galactoside (IPTG) at differentconcentrations was detected by SDS-PAGE. West blot assays were used to examine the immunoreaction of rLTBUreB by a commercial antibody against whole cell of H pylori and a self-prepared rabbit anti-rUreB serum, respectively, and determine the antigenicity of the recombinant proteinon inducing specific antibody in rabbits. GM1-ELISA wasused to demonstrate the adjuvanticity of rLTB-UreB. Immunoreaction of rLTB-UreB to the UreB antibody positivesera from 125 gastric patients was determined by using ELISA. RESULTS: In comparison with the corresponding sequences of original genes, the nucleotide sequence homologies of the cloned ItB-ureB fusion gene were 100%. IPTG withdifferent dosages of 0.1-1.0 mmol/L could efficiently inducepET32a-ItB-ureB-E.coli BL21DE3 to express the rLTB-UreB. The output of the target recombinant protein expressed by pET32a-ureB-E. coli BL21DE3 was approximately 35%of the total bacterial proteins. rLTB-UreB mainly presented in the form of inclusion body. West blotting results demonstrated that rLTB-UreB could combine with the commercial antibody against whole cell of H pylori andanti-rUreB serum as well as induce rabbit to produce specific antibody. The strong ability of rLTB-UreB bindingbovine GM1 indicated the existence of adjuvanticity of the recombinant protein. All the UreB antibody positive sera from the patients (125/125) were positive for rLTB-UreB. CONCLUSION: A recombinant prokaryotic expression system with high expression efficiency of the target fusion gene ItB-ureB was successfully established. The expressed rLTB-UreB showed qualified immunogenicity, antigenicityand adjuvanticity. All the results mentioned above laid a firm foundation for further development of H pylori genetically engineered vaccine.