Title
O-Polysaccharide Plays a Major Role on the Virulence and Immunostimulatory Potential of Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans During Periodontal Infection
Date Issued
30 October 2020
Access level
open access
Resource Type
journal article
Author(s)
Monasterio G.
Castillo F.
Astorga J.
Hoare A.
Terraza-Aguirre C.
Villablanca E.J.
Vernal R.
Publisher(s)
Frontiers Media S.A.
Abstract
Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans is a Gram-negative oral bacterium with high immunostimulatory and pathogenic potential involved in the onset and progression of periodontitis, a chronic disease characterized by aberrant immune responses followed by tooth-supporting bone resorption, which eventually leads to tooth loss. While several studies have provided evidence related to the virulence factors of A. actinomycetemcomitans involved in the host cell death and immune evasion, such as its most studied primate-specific virulence factor, leukotoxin, the role of specific lipopolysaccharide (LPS) domains remain poorly understood. Here, we analyzed the role of the immunodominant domain of the LPS of A. actinomycetemcomitans termed O-polysaccharide (O-PS), which differentiates the distinct bacterial serotypes based on its antigenicity. To determine the role of the O-PS in the immunogenicity and virulence of A. actinomycetemcomitans during periodontitis, we analyzed the in vivo and in vitro effect of an O-PS-defective transposon mutant serotype b strain, characterized by the deletion of the rmlC gene encoding the α-L-rhamnose sugar biosynthetic enzyme. Induction of experimental periodontitis using the O-PS-defective rmlC mutant strain resulted in lower tooth-supporting bone resorption, infiltration of Th1, Th17, and Th22 lymphocytes, and expression of Ahr, Il1b, Il17, Il23, Tlr4, and RANKL (Tnfsf11) in the periodontal lesions as compared with the wild-type A. actinomycetemcomitans strain. In addition, the O-PS-defective rmlC mutant strain led to impaired activation of antigen-presenting cells, with less expression of the co-stimulatory molecules CD40 and CD80 in B lymphocytes and dendritic cells, and downregulated expression of Tnfa and Il1b in splenocytes. In conclusion, these data demonstrate that the O-PS from the serotype b of A. actinomycetemcomitans plays a key role in the capacity of the bacterium to prime oral innate and adaptive immune responses, by triggering the Th1 and Th17-driven tooth-supporting bone resorption during periodontitis.
Volume
11
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Odontología, Cirugía oral, Medicina oral
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-85096048778
PubMed ID
Source
Frontiers in Immunology
Sponsor(s)
This study was financially supported by grant FONDECYT 1181780 from the Chilean Governmental, Agencia Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo (ANID). GM is a recipient of a Ph.D. Scholarship CONICYT 21170297 from ANID. We thank Dr. Keith Mintz and Dr. Daniel Danforth (Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, University of Vermont) for providing us with the bacteria wild-type and mutant strains. We are also grateful to Ms. Darna Venegas and Daniela Salinas (Microbiology Laboratory, Faculty of Dentistry, Universidad de Chile) and Dr. Jonatan Rodriguez (Department of Microbiology, Tumor and Cell Biology, Karolinska Institute) for sharing their expertise on microbiology work. We thank the Plataforma Experimental Bio-CT from Universidad de Chile (FONDEQUIP EQM150010) for their support with the ?CT analysis.
Sources of information: Directorio de Producción Científica Scopus