Purification of the Outer Membrane Proteins of Porphyromonas gingivalis and Their Chemotactic Activity of Human Leucocytes

Abstract

I purified outer membrane proteins (OMPs) of Porphyromonas gingivalis and examined their immunological activities for leucocytes. The OMPs were purified from P. gingivalis 381. SDS-PAGE analysis revealed that P. gingivalis had two main OMPs of 40 kDa and 53 kDa. 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 leucocytes 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 40 kDa OMP.