Tobacco-induced alterations to P. gingivalis-host interactions
Description: The Gram negative anaerobic bacterium, Porphyromonas gingivalis, is a causative agent of chronic periodontitis, a destructive tobacco-induced and/or exacerbated disease. Smokers are more likely to be infected by P. gingivalis and to harbor higher numbers of these bacterial cells than non-smokers. However, smokers also exhibit reduced clinical inflammation and, in keeping with this, smoke-exposed P. gingivalis exhibits a reduced capacity to illicit an inflammatory response from immune cells. The mechanisms underlying this reduced inflammatory potential are entirely unknown. Therefore, we will identify P. gingivalis genes that are dysregulated by tobacco exposure by microarray analysis of P. gingivalis cultured in cigarette smoke extract (CSE)-conditioned medium. We will also examine the effects of CSE on the characteristics of cellular structures known to play critical roles in the activation of innate immune cells, such as LPS and fimbriae. The inflammatory potential of tobacco-altered bacterial structures and the products of CSE-dysregulated genes will be tested in freshly isolated human monocytes. This study will provide some of the first information illustrating how P. gingivalis responds at the molecular level to cigarette smoke and may provide unique insights into disease pathogenesis in smokers.
Funding type: research
Funder scheme: R01
Start date: 2010-05-15
End date: 2017-04-30
Investigator: DAVID A SCOTT
Institution: UNIVERSITY OF LOUISVILLE
Subfield: Periodontics
Field: Dentistry
Domain: Health Sciences
Funded outputs count: 28
Funder award ID: R01DE019826
OpenAlex ID: G6827797372