Purification of the outer membrane proteins of Porphyromonas gingivalis and their chemotactic activity for human leukocytes

Abstract

I purified outer membrane proteins (OMPs) of Porphyromonas gingivalis and examined their immunological activities for leukocytes. The OMPs were purified from P. gingivalis 381. SDS-PAGE analysis revealed that P. gingivalis had two main OMPs of 40kDa and 53kDa. Antibodies to both of these proteins have been observed in the sera of patients with adult periodontitis. I found that both had chemotactic activity for human monocytes and both stimulated chemotactic activity for leukocytes in cultures when they were applied to lymphocytes. However, when they were applied to macrophages, chemotactic activity appeared only in the culture stimulated with the 40kDa OMP.