Proteomic analysis of Fusobacterium nucleatum growth in biofilm versus planktonic state

Abstract

Fusobacterium nucleatum is isolated from both supra‐ and sub‐gingival dental biofilms in humans and has been implicated in the aetiology of periodontitis. Also, this bacterium plays an important role in serious infections in other parts of the body. The aim of this investigation was to study the protein differential expression of F. nucleatum when growing on biofilm, compared to planktonic state, using proteomic analysis by the 2D‐DIGE™ system. In all, 68 proteins were differentially expressed during biofilm growth (1.5‐fold, p < .05), being 20 downexpressed and 31 overexpressed. The repressed proteins belonged to metabolism, biosynthesis and were outer membrane proteins (OMPs); and overexpressed were proteins involved in metabolism, transcription, translation, transport and proteins with unknown function. Also, of the seven enzymes that regulate the synthesis of butyrate, six of them were differentially expressed (overexpressed and downexpressed) when the bacteria were forming biofilms. The enzymatic activities of two of the enzymes in the butyrate pathway were analysed when the bacteria were growing in biofilms or in planktonic growth. All these results confirmed that this metabolic pathway is important in the formation of the biofilm of F. nucleatum and in its pathogenicity, both in the oral cavity and in other locations of the body.

Proof-of-Principle Study Suggesting Potential Anti-Inflammatory Activity of Butyrate and Propionate in Periodontal Cells

“…Nevertheless, our findings support the concept that oral health can be influenced by the oral microbiota, particularly when related to bacteria producing SCFAs. In support of this assumption, SCFAs were detected in gingival crevicular fluid subjects [ 15 , 16 ] partially originating from F. nucleatum [ 60 ]. According to our findings, butyrate and propionate are inhibitors of the inflammation-induced responses of macrophages, gingival fibroblasts, and also HSC2 oral epithelial cells, overall suggesting a beneficial effect of SCFAs for combat inflammatory tissue destruction.…”

More Than Just a Periodontal Pathogen –the Research Progress on Fusobacterium nucleatum

“…Dental plaque is the initiating and main pathogenic factor of periodontal disease. F. nucleatum is the dominant microorganism in periodontal tissues, and is associated with periodontitis etiology (Llama-Palacios et al, 2020). He et al (2012) showed that periodontally healthy individuals and patients with chronic periodontitis commonly experience F. nucleatum infection, F. nucleatum is more abundant in patients with chronic periodontitis.…”

Fusobacterium nucleatum Acts as a Pro-carcinogenic Bacterium in Colorectal Cancer: From Association to Causality

“…H 2 S, which is the cause of oral malodor (Hampelska et al, 2020), can stimulate cell proliferation in CRC (Szabo et al, 2013). On the other hand, F. nucleatum is identified as a potential butyrate producer (Vital et al, 2014;Llama-Palacios et al, 2020;Dahlstrand Rudin et al, 2021). Unlike other bacteria, it does not rely on polysaccharides to produce butyrate but uses amino acids (Vital et al, 2014).…”