Genes contributing to Porphyromonas gingivalis fitness in abscess and epithelial cell colonization environments

Porphyromonas gingivalis is an important cause of serious periodontal diseases, and is emerging as a pathogen in several systemic conditions including some forms of cancer. Initial colonization by P. gingivalis involves interaction with gingival epithelial cells, and the organism can also access host tissues and spread haematogenously. To better understand the mechanisms underlying these properties, we utilized a highly saturated transposon insertion library of P. gingivalis, and assessed the fitness of mutants during epithelial cell colonization and survival in a murine abscess model by high-throughput sequencing (Tn-Seq). Transposon insertions in many genes previously suspected as contributing to virulence showed significant fitness defects in both screening assays. In addition, a number of genes not previously associated with P. gingivalis virulence were identified as important for fitness. We further examined fitness defects of four such genes by generating defined mutations. Genes encoding a carbamoyl phosphate synthetase, a replication-associated recombination protein, a nitrosative stress responsive HcpR transcription regulator, and RNase Z, a zinc phosphodiesterase, showed a fitness phenotype in epithelial cell colonization and in a competitive abscess infection. This study verifies the importance of several well-characterized putative virulence factors of P. gingivalis and identifies novel fitness determinants of the organism

Tannic Acid Modified Silver Nanoparticles Show Antiviral Activity in Herpes Simplex Virus Type 2 Infection

The interaction between silver nanoparticles and herpesviruses is attracting great interest due to their antiviral activity and possibility to use as microbicides for oral and anogenital herpes. In this work, we demonstrate that tannic acid modified silver nanoparticles sized 13 nm, 33 nm and 46 nm are capable of reducing HSV-2 infectivity both in vitro and in vivo. The antiviral activity of tannic acid modified silver nanoparticles was size-related, required direct interaction and blocked virus attachment, penetration and further spread. All tested tannic acid modified silver nanoparticles reduced both infection and inflammatory reaction in the mouse model of HSV-2 infection when used at infection or for a post-infection treatment. Smaller-sized nanoparticles induced production of cytokines and chemokines important for anti-viral response. The corresponding control buffers with tannic acid showed inferior antiviral effects in vitro and were ineffective in blocking in vivo infection. Our results show that tannic acid modified silver nanoparticles are good candidates for microbicides used in treatment of herpesvirus infections.This work was supported by the Polish National Science Centre grant No. 2011/03/B/NZ6/04878 (for MK) and Centre for Preclinical Research and Technology (CePT) Project No. POIG.02.02.00-14-024/08-0 (for MG and MD). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscrip

AlkB dioxygenase preferentially repairs protonated substrates: specificity against exocyclic adducts and molecular mechanism of action.

Efficient repair by AlkB dioxygenase of exocyclic DNA adducts: 3,N(4)-ethenocytosine, 1,N(6)-ethenoadenine, 3,N(4)- α-hydroxyethanocytosine and, reported here for the first time, 3,N(4)- α-hydroxypropanocytosine, requires higher Fe(II) concentration than the reference 3-methylcytosine. The pH optimum for the repair follows the order of pK(a) values for protonation of the adduct suggesting that positively charged substrates favorably interact with the negatively charged carboxylic group of Asp135 side-chain in the enzyme active centre. This interaction is supported by molecular modeling indicating that 1,N(6)-ethenoadenine and 3,N(4)-ethenocytosine are bound to AlkB more favorably in their protonated cationic forms. An analysis of the pattern of intermolecular interactions that stabilize the location of the ligand points to a role of Asp135 in recognition of the adduct in its protonated form. Moreover, also ab initio calculations underline the role of substrate protonation in lowering the free energy barrier of the transition state of epoxidation of the ethenoadducts studied. The observed time-courses of repair of racemic mixtures of 3,N(4)- α-hydroxyethanocytosine or 3,N(4)- α-hydroxypropanocytosine are unequivocally two-exponential, indicating that the respective stereoisomers are repaired by AlkB with different efficiencies. Molecular modeling of these adducts bound by AlkB allowed evaluation of the participation of their possible conformational states in the enzymatic reaction

Peptidylarginine deiminase from Porphyromonas gingivalis contributes to infection of gingival fibroblasts and induction of prostaglandin E_{2}-signaling pathway

Porphyromonas gingivalis (Pg) expresses the enzyme peptidylarginine deiminase (PPAD), which has a strong preference for C-terminal arginines. Due to the combined activity of PPAD and Arg-specific gingipains, Pg on the cell surface is highly citrullinated. To investigate the contribution of PPAD to the interaction of Pg with primary human gingival fibroblasts (PHGF) and Pg-induced synthesis of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), PHGF were infected with wild-type Pg ATCC 33277, an isogenic PPAD-knockout strain (Δppad) or a mutated strain (C351A) expressing an inactive enzyme in which the catalytic cysteine has been mutated to alanine (PPAD(C351A)). Cells were infected in medium containing the mutants alone or in medium supplemented with purified, active PPAD. PHGF infection was assessed by colony-forming assay, microscopic analysis and flow cytometry. Expression of COX-2 and mPGES-1, key factors in the prostaglandin synthesis pathway, was examined by qRT-PCR, while PGE2 synthesis was evaluated by EIA. PHGF were infected more efficiently by wt-Pg than the Δppad strain, which correlated with strong induction of COX-2 and mPGES-1 expression by wt-Pg, but not by the PPAD activity-null mutant strains (ΔPPAD and C351A). The impaired ability of the ΔPPAD strain to adhere to and/or invade PHGF and both ΔPPAD and C351A to stimulate the PGE2-synthesis pathway was fully restored by the addition of purified PPAD. The latter effect was strongly inhibited by aspirin. Collectively, our results implicate PPAD activity, but not PPAD itself, as an important factor for gingival fibroblast infection and activation of PGE2 synthesis, the latter of which may strongly contribute to bone resorption and eventual tooth loss

Porphyromonas gingivalis genes conferring fitness in a tobacco-rich environment

Smokers are more likely than non-smokers to harbour Porphyromonas gingivalis, they are more susceptible to destructive periodontal disease and smokers may, ultimately, benefit from tobacco-specific preventive and treatment strategies. A Mariner transposon insertion library for P. gingivalis ATCC 33277 was exploited to define 256 genes as essential for P. gingivalis survival in a tobacco-rich environment. Genes whose products play roles in protein transport and catabolism, nicotinamide processing, protection against oxidative stress, drug resistance and transcriptional regulation have all been identified as essential for CSE survival. Many of these tobacco-essential genes are also requisite for epithelial colonization and abscess formation, suggestive of a core stress-related P. gingivalis genome. Single-gene deletions in several of the TnSeq-implicated genes led to significantly reduced P. gingivalis fitness upon competition with the parent strain, under conditions of cigarette smoke extract-induced stress (1000 ng/ml nicotine equivalents). This study identifies, for the first time, a subset of P. gingivalis genes required for surviving the plethora of insults present in cigarette smoke. Such conditionally essential genes may delineate bacterial persistence strategies and represent novel therapeutic foci for the prevention of P. gingivalis infection and related diseases in smokers and in general

Porz, an essential component of the type ix secretion system of porphyromonas gingivalis, delivers anionic lipopolysaccharide to the poru sortase for transpeptidase processing of t9ss cargo proteins

Bacteria have evolved multiple systems to transport effector proteins to their surface or into the surrounding milieu. These proteins have a wide range of functions, including attachment, motility, nutrient acquisition, and toxicity in the host. Porphyromonas gingivali