RgpA and Kgp gingipains are non-covalent complexes of endoprotease catalytic and hemagglutinin-adhesin domains on the surface of Porphyromonas gingivalis. A motif conserved in each domain has been suggested to function as an oligomerization motif. We tested this hypothesis by mutating motif residues to hexahistidine or insertion of hexahistidine tag to disrupt the motif within the Kgp catalytic...

Arg-gingipains are extracellular cysteine proteases produced by the gram-negative periodontal pathogen Porphyromonas gingivalis and are encoded by rgpA and rgpB. Three Arg-gingipains, heterodimeric high-molecular-mass Arg-gingipain HRgpA comprising the alpha-catalytic chain and the beta-adhesin chain, the monomeric soluble Arg-gingipain comprising only the alpha-catalytic chain (RgpA(cat)), and...

Streptococcus pneumoniae causes pneumonia by infecting the alveolar epithelium via binding to host receptors, such as platelet-activating factor receptor (PAFR). Although chronic periodontitis has been identified a risk factor, how periodontopathic bacteria cause is not known. We found that S. adhered PAFR expressed on A549 human epithelial cells stimulated Porphyromonas gingivalis culture supe...

Periodontitis is a significant problem in companion animals, and yet little is known about the disease-associated microbiota. A major virulence factor for the human periodontal pathogen Porphyromonas gingivalis is the lysyl- and arginyl-specific proteolytic activity of the gingipains. We screened several Porphyromonas species isolated from companion animals-P. asaccharolytica, P. circumdentaria...

Abstract Purpose of Review To establish a link or causation between periodontitis and Alzheimer’s disease requires studies that first an association correlation these two diseases, followed by in vitro, animal model, human to identify possible underlying biological mechanisms, finally assessing the benefits periodontal therapy general targeted therapies against microbiota inflammatory responses...

The anaerobic Gram-negative bacterium Porphyromonas gingivalis is considered the keystone of periodontitis diseases, a set inflammatory conditions that affects tissues surrounding teeth. In recent years, major virulence factors exploited by P. have been identified and characterized, including cocktail toxins, mainly proteases called gingipains, which promote gingival tissue invasion. These effe...

A gingival crevice model (epithelial cell-Porphyromonas gingivalis-neutrophil) was established and used to profile gingipain, matrix metalloproteinase (MMP), MMP mediators [neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases 1 (TIMP-1)] and cytokine networks. Smoking is the primary environmental risk factor for periodontitis. Therefore, the influence of ...