Polymicrobial pathogenesis in a murine periodontitis model.

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Severe periodontal disease is a chronic inflammatory disease of the tooth's supporting tissues and is associated with specific pathogenic bacteria. The disease has a large economic burden and is a major public health problem. Three bacterial species have recently been shown to be closely associated with advanced periodontal disease in humans. One of these three bacterial species has been shown to produce periodontal disease in a mouse model of disease and the major proteins on the cell surface of this bacterium have been characterized. Further, in this mouse model it has been demonstrated that killed cells of the bacterium or the major surface proteins when used as a vaccine prevent development of disease. The purpose of the current proposal is to extend this work to include all three bacterial species that have been associated with disease in humans. The major surface proteins of all these bacterial species when grown together as high density polymicrobial complexes will be determined. Recent results have shown that in high-density, polymicrobial cultures bacteria communicate using signalling systems which can alter the expression of cell surface proteins associated with disease. The ability of the three bacterial species, when grown in polymicrobial culture, to cause periodontal disease in the mouse model will be determined. This will allow the determination of whether a single species and-or multispecies vaccine is capable of protecting against disease in this model. The significance of the work is that it will increase our understanding of the bacteria associated with periodontal disease and it may lead to the development of an effective vaccine to help prevent disease in humans.