We identified a protein, Aer, as a signal transducer that senses intracellular energy levels rather than the external environment and that transduces signals for aerotaxis (taxis to oxygen) and other energy-dependent behavioral responses in Escherichia coli. Domains in Aer are similar to the signaling domain in chemotaxis receptors and the putative oxygen-sensing domain of some transcriptional activators. A putative FAD-binding site in the N-terminal domain of Aer shares a consensus sequence with the NifL, Bat, and Wc-1 signal-transducing proteins that regulate gene expression in response to redox changes, oxygen, and blue light, respectively. A double mutant deficient in aer and tsr, which codes for the serine chemoreceptor, was negative for aerotaxis, redox taxis, and glycerol taxis, each of which requires the proton motive force and͞or electron transport system for signaling. We propose that Aer and Tsr sense the proton motive force or cellular redox state and thereby integrate diverse signals that guide E. coli to environments where maximal energy is available for growth.
The presence of Porphyromonas gingivalis in the periodontal pocket and the high levels of gingipain activity detected in gingival crevicular fluid could implicate a role for gingipains in the destruction of the highly vascular periodontal tissue. To explore the effects of these proteases on endothelial cells, we exposed bovine coronary artery endothelial cells and human microvascular endothelial cells to gingipain-active extracellular protein preparations and/or purified gingipains from P. gingivalis. Treated cells exhibited a rapid loss of cell adhesion properties that was followed by apoptotic cell death. Cleavage of N-and VE-cadherin and integrin 1 was observed in immunoblots of cell lysates. There was a direct correlation between the kinetics of cleavage of N-and VE-cadherin and loss of cell adhesion properties. Loss of cell adhesion, as well as N-and VE-cadherin and integrin 1 cleavage, could be inhibited or significantly delayed by preincubation of P. gingivalis W83 gingipain-active extracellular extracts with the cysteine protease inhibitor N␣-p-tosyl-L-lysine chloromethylketone. Furthermore, purified gingipains also induced endothelial cell detachment and apoptosis. Apoptosisassociated events, including annexin V positivity, caspase-3 activation, and cleavage of the caspase substrates poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase and topoisomerase I (Topo I), were observed in endothelial cells after detachment. All of the effects observed were correlated with the different levels of cysteine-dependent proteolytic activity of the extracts tested. Taken together, these results indicate that gingipains from P. gingivalis can alter cell adhesion molecules and induce endothelial cell death, which could have implications for the pathogenicity of this organism.
Filifactor alocis, a Gram-positive anaerobic rod, is one of the most abundant bacteria identified in the periodontal pockets of periodontitis patients. There is a gap in our understanding of its pathogenicity and ability to interact with other periodontal pathogens. To evaluate the virulence potential of F. alocis and its ability to interact with Porphyromonas gingivalis W83, several clinical isolates of F. alocis were characterized. F. alocis showed nongingipain protease and sialidase activities. In silico analysis revealed the molecular relatedness of several virulence factors from F. alocis and P. gingivalis. In contrast to P. gingivalis, F. alocis was relatively resistant to oxidative stress and its growth was stimulated under those conditions. Biofilm formation was significantly increased in coculture. There was an increase in adherence and invasion of epithelial cells in coculture compared with P. gingivalis or F. alocis monocultures. In those epithelial cells, endocytic vesiclemediated internalization was observed only during coculture. The F. alocis clinical isolate had an increased invasive capacity in coculture with P. gingivalis compared to the ATCC 35896 strain. In addition, there was variation in the proteomes of the clinical isolates compared to the ATCC 35896 strain. Hypothetical proteins and those known to be important virulence factors in other bacteria were identified. These results indicate that F. alocis has virulence properties that may enhance its ability to survive and persist in the periodontal pocket and may play an important role in infection-induced periodontal disease.
In a previous study we cloned and determined the nucleotide sequence of the prtH gene from Porphyromonas gingivalis W83. This gene specifies a 97-kDa protease which is normally found in the membrane vesicles produced by P. gingivalis and which cleaves the C3 complement protein under defined conditions. We developed a novel ermF-ermAM antibiotic resistance gene cassette, which was used with the cloned prtH gene to prepare an insertionally inactivated allele of this gene. This genetic construct was introduced by electroporation into P. gingivalis W83 in order to create a protease-deficient mutant by recombinational allelic exchange. The mutant strain, designated V2296, was compared with the parent strain W83 for proteolytic activity and virulence. Extracellular protein preparations from V2296 showed decreased proteolytic activity compared with preparations from W83. Casein substrate zymography revealed that the 97-kDa proteolytic component as well as a 45-kDa protease was missing in the mutant. In in vivo experiments using a mouse model, V2296 was dramatically reduced in virulence compared with the wild-type W83 strain. A molecular survey of several clinical isolates of P. gingivalis using the prtH gene as a probe suggested that prtH gene sequences were conserved and that they may have been present in multiple copies. Two of 10 isolates did not hybridize with the prtH gene probe. These strains, like the V2296 mutant, also displayed decreased virulence in the mouse model. Taken together, these results suggest an important role for P. gingivalis proteases in soft tissue infections and specifically indicate that the prtH gene product is a virulence factor.
A 0.9-kb open reading frame encoding a unique 32-kDa protein was identified downstream of the recA gene of Porphyromonas gingivalis. Reverse transcription-PCR and Northern blot analysis showed that both the recA gene and this open reading frame are part of the same transcriptional unit. This cloned fragment was insertionally inactivated using the ermF-ermAM antibiotic resistance cassette to create a defective mutant by allelic exchange. When plated on Brucella blood agar, the mutant strain, designated P. gingivalis FLL92, was non-black pigmented and showed significant reduction in beta-hemolysis compared with the parent strain, P. gingivalis W83. Arginine-and lysine-specific cysteine protease activities, which were mostly soluble, were approximately 90% lower than that of the parent strain. Expression of the rgpA, rgpB, and kgp protease genes was the same in P. gingivalis FLL92 as in the wild-type strain. In contrast to the parent strain, P. gingivalis FLL92 showed increased autoaggregration in addition to a significant reduction in hemagglutinating and hemolysin activities. In in vivo experiments using a mouse model, P. gingivalis FLL92 was dramatically less virulent than the parent strain. A molecular survey of this mutant and the parent strain using all known P. gingivalis insertion sequence elements as probes suggested that no intragenomic changes due to the movement of these elements have occurred in P. gingivalis FLL92. Taken together, these results suggest that the recA downstream gene, designated vimA (virulence-modulating gene), plays an important role in virulence modulation in P. gingivalis W83, possibly representing a novel posttranscriptional or translational regulation of virulence factors in P. gingivalis.
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