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Infection and Immunity, February 2000, p. 716-724, Vol. 68, No. 2
Department of
Microbiology1 and Department of
Pathology,3 Nippon Dental University, Fujimi
1-9-20, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 102-8159, and Scientific
Instrument Center, Toyama Medical and Pharmaceutical University,
Sugitani, Toyama 930-0152,2 Japan
Received 19 July 1999/Returned for modification 14 September
1999/Accepted 30 October 1999
Porphyromonas gingivalis is a major pathogen associated
with adult periodontitis. We cloned and sequenced the gene
(dpp) coding for dipeptidyl aminopeptidase IV (DPPIV) from
P. gingivalis W83, based on the amino acid sequences of
peptide fragments derived from purified DPPIV. An Escherichia
coli strain overproducing P. gingivalis DPPIV was
constructed. The enzymatic properties of recombinant DPPIV purified
from the overproducer were similar to those of DPPIV isolated from
P. gingivalis. The three amino acid residues Ser, Asp, and
His, which are thought to form a catalytic triad in the C-terminal
catalytic domain of eukaryotic DPPIV, are conserved in P. gingivalis DPPIV. When each of the corresponding residues of the
enzyme was substituted with Ala by site-directed mutagenesis, DPPIV
activity significantly decreased, suggesting that these three residues
of P. gingivalis DPPIV are involved in the catalytic
reaction. DPPIV-deficient mutants of P. gingivalis were
constructed and subjected to animal experiments. Mice injected with the
wild-type strain developed abscesses to a greater extent and died more
frequently than those challenged with mutant strains. Mice injected
with the mutants exhibited faster recovery from the infection, as
assessed by weight gain and the rate of lesion healing. This decreased
virulence of mutants compared with the parent strain suggests that
DPPIV is a potential virulence factor of P. gingivalis and
may play important roles in the pathogenesis of adult periodontitis
induced by the organism.
0019-9567/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Enzymatic Properties of Dipeptidyl Aminopeptidase
IV Produced by the Periodontal Pathogen Porphyromonas
gingivalis and Its Participation in Virulence
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of
Microbiology, Nippon Dental University, Fujimi 1-9-20, Chiyoda-ku,
Tokyo 102-8159, Japan. Phone: 81-3-3261-8763. Fax: 81-3-3264-8399. E-mail: yumi-mic{at}tokyo.ndu.ac.jp.
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