Bacteria That Cause Periodontitis Better Understood
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Through the study of bacteria that create periodontitis, an international team of scientists, including researchers from the Jagiellonian University, says they have cracked its ‘transport system’, which could contribute to the development of drugs that stop the development of the pathogens.
According to Jagiellonian scientists, this is the first such peptide transport system in Gram-negative bacteria described so far.
Dr Mariusz Madej from the university said: ”The bacterium Porphyromonas gingivalis is the main pathogen responsible for the initiation and development of periodontitis, one of the most common inflammatory diseases in humans.
"In addition, the participation of this bacterium in diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, cardiovascular diseases or Alzheimer's disease has been proven.”
As P. gingivalis cannot use sugars as a food source, it feeds on host proteins (e.g. plasma albumin). But they are too large to be absorbed by the bacterium, which is why P. gingivalis cuts them into smaller pieces (peptides) with the help of enzymes called gingipains, acting like molecular scissors.
Gingipains are attached to the outer membrane of bacteria, but can also be secreted into the extracellular space and thus act over greater distances. Despite the key role of peptides in the survival of this bacterium, their mechanism of transport into the cell remained a mystery.
Scientists now hope that their discovery will not only help researchers better understanding the functioning of Gram-negative bacteria but also that it will be possible to design drugs that will inhibit the peptide uptake and stop the development of pathogens.
The research has been published in Nature Microbiology (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41564-020-0716-y).
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