Salivary Proteins Associated with Periodontitis in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

The objective of this study was to investigate the salivary proteins that are associated with periodontitis in patients with Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Volunteers for the study were patients from the Diabetic Unit, University of Malaya Medical Centre, whose periodontal status was determined. The diabetic volunteers were divided into two groups, i.e., patients with periodontitis and those who were periodontally healthy. Saliva samples were collected and treated with 10% TCA/acetone/20 mM DTT to precipitate the proteins, which were then separated using two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Gel images were scanned using the GS-800TM Calibrated Densitometer. The protein spots were analyzed and expressed in percentage volumes. The percentage volume of each protein spot was subjected to Mann-Whitney statistical analysis using SPSS software and false discovery rate correction. When the expression of the salivary proteins was compared between the T2DM patients with periodontitis with those who were periodontally healthy, seven proteins, including polymeric immunoglobulin receptor, plastin-2, actin related protein 3, leukocyte elastase inhibitor, carbonic anhydrases 6, immunoglobulin J and interleukin-1 receptor antagonist, were found to be differentially expressed (p < 0.01304). This implies that the proteins may have the potential to be used as biomarkers for the prediction of T2DM patients who may be prone to periodontitis

An antiserum raised against the recombinant cytoplasmic tail of the human CD43 glycoprotein identifies CD43 in many mammalian species

Leukosialin or CD43 is a heavily O-glycosylated transmembrane protein expressed on all cells of the haematopoietic cell lineage with the exception of red blood cells and mature B cells. This antigen has been identified in human, mouse and rat with monoclonal antibodies. Although orthologues of many human and rodent leucocyte cell surface antigens have been described in recent years, CD43, despite its abundance on human and rodent cells, remained uncharacterized in other vertebrate species. The comparison of CD43 amino acid sequences from human, mouse and rat indicated a high level of homology in the cytoplasmic domain. A serum, (p.aCD43cp) raised against the recombinant cytoplasmic tail of the human CD43, was shown not only to recognize human CD43, but it bound to putative CD43 orthologues in many mammalian species. CD43 was found to be expressed in the same leucocyte subpopulations and circumstantial evidence suggested that CD43 is also regulated similarly during leucocyte ontogeny in all species investigated. As CD43+ cells were readily observed in fixed tissues, the p.aCD43cp serum may be used as a reliable reagent for the verification of the haematopoietic origin of infiltrations and, used together with other reagents, for the serological characterization of normal and pathological lymphoid tissues and lymphoid infiltrations in experimental work and in animal disease