Identification and Modification ofPorphyromonas gingivalisCysteine Protease, Gingipain, Ideal for Screening Periodontitis

Chronic periodontitis is an inflammatory disease caused by the formation of oral microbial biofilms. Periodontitis is associated with general health and not only oral diseases.Porphyromonas gingivalisis a well-known keystone pathogen for periodontitis and is associated with several systemic diseases, such as diabetes mellitus and Alzheimer's disease. We previously developed a system for screening periodontitis usingP. gingivalis-specific serum immunoglobulin G (IgG) in an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay with a sensitivity of 0.774 and a specificity of 0.586 and an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.708. However, the antigens elicited non-specific responses, since they were obtained from whole extracts of sonicated cultured bacteria. The purpose of this study was to identify antigens ideal for a sensitive and specific serum test. We identified the specific antigens using immunoaffinity columns immobilized with IgG antibodies from periodontitis patients. Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry identified 29 antigens from the elutes. Recombinant proteins for these candidates were synthesized using the wheat germ cell-free translation system and screened by dot blot analysis with serum from the columns. Three of the 16 candidates that reacted showed strongest affinities upon dot blot analysis; they included outer membrane protein 28, cysteine proteases, lysine gingipain Kgp, and arginine gingipain RgpA. Outer membrane protein 28 was not suitable for screeningP. gingivalisinfection because of its high false-negative rates. Kgp and RgpA were unstable antigens since they underwent self-digestion. They were made stable by substituting the active cysteine residues in Kgp and RgpA with alanine using site-directed mutagenesis. Using the modified antigens, we demonstrated that the patient serum IgG level against RgpA was the highest among all the antigens expressed inP. gingivalis. Moreover, the N-terminus of recombinant RgpA was excellent in differentiating between diseased and non-diseased states (with sensitivity of 0.85, specificity of 0.9, and area under the curve of 0.915). Although dot blot analysis was the only experiment used, the N-terminus of RgpA is an excellent antigen to immunologically test forP. gingivalisinfection, especially for estimating the risks for periodontitis-associated systemic diseases. In conclusion, we have developed aP. gingivalisantigen for screening periodontitis

The fungal metabolite (+)-terrein abrogates osteoclast differentiation via suppression of the RANKL signaling pathway through NFATc1

Pathophysiological bone resorption is commonly associated with periodontal disease and involves the excessive resorption of bone matrix by activated osteoclasts. Receptor activator of nuclear factor (NF)-κB ligand (RANKL) signaling pathways have been proposed as targets for inhibiting osteoclast differentiation and bone resorption. The fungal secondary metabolite (+)-terrein is a natural compound derived from Aspergillus terreus that has previously shown anti-interleukin-6 properties related to inflammatory bone resorption. However, its effects and molecular mechanism of action on osteoclastogenesis and bone resorption remain unclear. In the present study, we showed that 10 µM synthetic (+)-terrein inhibited RANKL-induced osteoclast formation and bone resorption in a dose-dependent manner and without cytotoxicity. RANKL-induced messenger RNA expression of osteoclast-specific markers including nuclear factor of activated T-cells cytoplasmic 1 (NFATc1), the master regulator of osteoclastogenesis, cathepsin K, tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (Trap) was completely inhibited by synthetic (+)-terrein treatment. Furthermore, synthetic (+)-terrein decreased RANKL-induced NFATc1 protein expression. This study revealed that synthetic (+)-terrein attenuated osteoclast formation and bone resorption by mediating RANKL signaling pathways, especially NFATc1, and indicated the potential effect of (+)-terrein on inflammatory bone resorption including periodontal disease

Relationship between hypertension and periapical lesion: an in vitro and in vivo study

Abstract The aim of this study was to compare potential aspects of periapical lesion formation in hypertensive and normotensive conditions using hypertensive (BPH/2J) and wild-type control (BPN/3J) mice. The mandibular first molars of both strains had their dental pulp exposed. At day 21 the mice were euthanized and right mandibular molars were used to evaluate the size and phenotype of apical periodontitis by microCT. Proteins were extracted from periapical lesion on the left side and the expressions of IL1α, IL1β and TNFα were analyzed by ELISA. Bone marrow stem cells were isolated from adult mice femurs from 2 strains and osteoclast differentiation was evaluated by tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP) in vitro. The amount of differentiated osteoclastic cells was nearly double in hypertensive mice when compared to the normotensive strain (p 0.7). IL1α, IL1β and TNFα cytokines expressions were similar for both systemic conditions (p > 0.05). Despite the fact that no differences could be observed in periapical lesion size and cytokines expressions on the systemic conditions tested, hypertension showed an elevated number of osteoclast differentiation