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Infection and Immunity, November 1998, p. 5232-5237, Vol. 66, No. 11
0019-9567/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Regulation of Protease Expression in
Porphyromonas gingivalis
Masayuki
Tokuda,
Wen
Chen,
Thonthi
Karunakaran,
and
Howard K.
Kuramitsu*
Department of Oral Biology, State University
of New York, Buffalo, New York 14214
Received 8 June 1998/Returned for modification 18 August
1998/Accepted 1 September 1998
Although the strong protease activity of Porphyromonas
gingivalis appears to be an important virulence property of these
organisms, little information is currently available regarding the
regulation of expression of the multiple protease genes. Utilizing the
lacZ reporter gene strategy, the environmental factors
which regulate the expression of the Arg-gingipain gene
rgpA and the prtT protease gene were
investigated. These two genes are reciprocally regulated since factors
which retarded growth (iron depletion and nutrient limitation) appeared
to upregulate rgpA expression while down-regulating prtT expression. However, inactivation of the major
rgpA gene resulted in increased transcription of the
prtT and tpr protease genes while decreasing
expression of the Lys-gingipain kgp gene as detected by
Northern blot analysis. By contrast, inactivation of the
prtT gene did not significantly affect kgp
expression but moderately decreased rgpA mRNA levels. These
results indicate that the protease genes of P. gingivalis
are not coordinately regulated and suggest that some of these enzymes
play specific roles in the physiology and/or virulence of these
organisms.
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of
Oral Biology, State University of New York, 3435 Main St., Buffalo, NY 14214. Phone: (716) 829-2068. Fax: (716) 829-3942. E-mail:
Kuramits{at}ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU.

Present address: Department of Operative Dentistry and
Endodontology, Kagoshima University Dental School, Kagoshima,
Japan.

Present address: Department of Medicine, Boston University School
of Medicine, Boston, Mass.
Infection and Immunity, November 1998, p. 5232-5237, Vol. 66, No. 11
0019-9567/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
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