Invasion-Associated Bacterial Polymorphisms

描述（由申请人提供）：牙龈卟啉单胞菌是一种侵入性厌氧菌，与牙周组织破坏和心血管疾病有关。牙龈卟啉卟啉菌侵入血管化程度高的牙龈组织，获取铁和其他营养来源。我们观察到各种牙龈卟啉卟啉菌株的侵袭能力变化多达三个数量级。这很可能是由牙龈假单胞菌基因组上存在的遗传多态性来解释的。因此，我们的假设是，这种入侵变异反映了菌株间的基因组异质性。因此，我们的目标是使用微阵列比较基因组杂交（CGH）分析具有不同入侵能力的牙龈假单胞菌菌株，以确定入侵基因型中与入侵相关的细菌基因亚群。鉴定独特的与入侵相关的毒力因子将有助于更好地理解这种生物的假定毒力机制和遗传异质性。这种方法也可能识别出参与侵入性细菌和宿主组织之间的串扰的部分。这些信息应该有助于开发新的确定的治疗牙周炎的分子方法。7. 公共卫生意义：牙龈卟啉单胞菌是一种在牙龈疾病和心脏病斑块中发现的细菌。该项目的目标是更多地了解牙龈卟啉卟啉菌是如何进入人体细胞引起疾病的。这些知识可能使我们能够开发出新的、更有效的牙龈和心脏疾病的治疗方法。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Porphyromonas gingivalis is an invasive anaerobe implicated in periodontal tissue destruction and cardiovascular disease. P. gingivalis invades highly vascularized gingival tissues, gaining access to iron and other nutritional sources. We have observed that the invasive ability of various P. gingivalis strains varies by as much as three orders of magnitude. This is most likely explained by genetic polymorphisms present on the P. gingivalis genome. It is thus our hypothesis that this invasion variability reflects inter-strain genomic heterogeneity. Consequently, our goal is to use microarray comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) analysis of P. gingivalis strains that have diverse invasion abilities in order to identify the invasion-associated subset of bacterial genes within the invasive genotype. Identification of unique invasion-associated virulence factors will lead to a better understanding of the putative virulence mechanisms and genetic heterogeneity of this organism. This approach will also likely identify moieties involved in cross talk between the invasive bacteria and the host tissue. Such information should facilitate the development of novel defined molecular approaches for the treatment of periodontitis. 7. Public Health Significance: Porphyromonas gingivalis is a bacterium found in gum disease and in plaques from heart disease. The goal of this project is to learn more about how P. gingivalis enters human cells to cause disease. This knowledge may allow us to develop new, more effective treatments for diseases of the gums and heart.