The role of the RgpA-Kgp proteinase-adhesin complexes in the adherence of Porphyromonas gingivalis to fibroblasts

Abstract

Porphyromonas gingivalis strains W50 and ATCC 33277 were shown to bind to cultured human fibroblast (MRC-5) cells using flow cytometry. As the concentration of P. gingivalis strain W50 cells was increased relative to the concentration of MRC-5 cells, the number of W50 cells bound per MRC-5 cell increased, as did the percentage of MRC-5 cells with bacteria bound. However, this relationship was only seen for P. gingivalis strain ATCC 33277 at low cell concentrations: at high bacterial cell concentrations strain ATCC 33277 auto-aggregated and binding to the MRC-5 cells decreased. Strain W50 was therefore chosen to study the role of the surface proteinase-adhesin complexes (RgpA-Kgp complexes) i..