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Infection and Immunity, November 2001, p. 7146-7151, Vol. 69, No. 11
Equipe de Biologie Buccale, UPRES-EA 1256, 35000 Rennes, France
Received 16 January 2001/Returned for modification 9 May
2001/Accepted 19 June 2001
Porphyromonas gingivalis (P. gingivalis) is
considered to be one of the main periodontal pathogens. The goal of
this work was to confirm the ability of P. gingivalis to
invade host cells. We detected P. gingivalis inside
KB cells by confocal microscopy and analyzed the various aspects
of the adherence and internalization process. Lysates of P.
gingivalis-infected KB cells were also examined using anaerobic
growth techniques. The results showed the viability and ability to
replicate, inside the host cells, of the internalized pathogen. The
production of vesicles was also tracked for the first time. Confocal
microscopy revealed P. gingivalis in a perinuclear position.
The literature is unanimous in
assigning Porphyromonas gingivalis (P. gingivalis) a role as a major periodontal pathogen (17, 39). While it occasionally expresses its virulence on its own, P. gingivalis more commonly acts in cooperation with other
microorganisms (21, 23). P. gingivalis is an
opportunistic pathogen (22, 24) which can express an
outstanding arsenal of virulence factors (6). As with many
enteropathogens (5, 7, 26, 32), invasion of host cells
seems to be an important strategy used by P. gingivalis to
protect itself against the host immune system and to advance through
tissues (36). A possible connection has been made between
the incidence of periodontal infections in pregnant women and an
increased risk of their having preterm low-birth-weight babies
(31). P. gingivalis has also been cited as a
potential etiological factor in myocardial infarction and
atherosclerosis (2, 27). The internalization was first
quantified, and the ability of this pathogen to multiply within the
eukaryotic cells was assessed. The survival conditions in the host cell
were then determined.
Epithelial cell growth.
KB cells (ATCC CL17) derived
from an epidermoid cancer of the oral cavity were used. The cells were
inoculated into 24-well macroplates at a concentration of
105 cells/ml. The growth medium was replaced
every day to maintain confluent cultures. For confocal microscopy, the
cells were inoculated at the same concentration in glass culture dishes
coated with 1% collagen I.
Bacterial growth.
P. gingivalis ATCC 33277 was
maintained on blood agar plates in an anaerobic chamber at 37°C.
Todd-Hewitt broth cultures were inoculated 48 h prior to each experiment.
Bacterial contamination.
The epithelial cells were washed
twice with unsupplemented RPMI 1640 and covered with 500 µl of a
bacterial suspension for 1 h at 37°C. The bacterial
concentration was adjusted by dilution in phosphate-buffered saline
(PBS) containing 1 mM Cell lysate culturing.
The epithelial cells were washed and
incubated with 500 µl of metronidazole (100 µg/ml) for 3 h
(25). The cells were lysed in 1 ml of sterile distilled
water for 15 min. The lysates were serially diluted, and 200 µl of
each dilution was spread on a blood agar plate. The plates were
incubated in an anaerobic chamber at 37°C to quantify the level of
bacterial invasion by counting the number of CFU. The CFU were
determined on days 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. The results were analyzed by
repeated measures of one-way analysis of variance using Statview 5.5.
Locating P. gingivalis using confocal
microscopy.
For all microscopic protocols, the samples were fixed
in 1% paraformaldehyde in PBS for 30 min. After washing, the samples were sealed between a slide and coverslip using Mounting Medium (Sigma).
SYBR and propidium iodide treatment.
The bacteria were
centrifuged, washed with PBS, and incubated in an SYBR II
solution (10 Phalloidin-FITC and anti-P. gingivalis rhodamine
antibody.
The cytoskeleton was visualized using
phalloidin-fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC). The samples were
saturated with PBS containing 1% bovine serum albumin and 0.1% Tween
20 for 20 min with agitation. After removing the supernatant, rabbit
anti-P. gingivalis antiserum was added and the plates were
incubated for 20 min. The negative control wells contained PBT. After
washing with PBT, 250 µl of the secondary rhodamine-coupled antibody
was added together with 250 µl of phalloidin-FITC. The plates were
incubated with agitation then rinsed.
Acridine orange and crystal violet.
The bacteria were stained
with 0.01% acridine orange in PBS for 45 s as per the protocol of
Miliotis (28). The cells were contaminated as described
previously. After a wash, the KB cells were incubated with 0.01%
crystal violet in PBS for 45 s to quench extracellular
fluorescence and then washed.
DiO and anti-P. gingivalis rhodamine-conjugated
antibody.
Marcia's (14) protocol was used. Prior to
contamination, KB cells were incubated with DiO
(3,3'-dioctadecyloxacarbocyanine perchlorate), a lipophilic
membrane marker. It was diluted in culture medium to obtain a final
concentration of 170 µg/ml. The KB cells were incubated at 37°C for
90 min and then washed in RPMI. Immunodetection of P. gingivalis was carried out as described previously.
0019-9567/01/$04.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/IAI.69.11.7146-7151.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Assessment of Internalization and Viability of
Porphyromonas gingivalis in KB Epithelial Cells by
Confocal Microscopy
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2-mercaptoethanol to a ratio of 100 bacteria
per epithelial cell as determined by optical density. RPMI alone and
bacteria alone served as negative controls.
4) for 15 min. After the
contamination and fixation procedures, the epithelial cells were
incubated for 5 min with 2 µM propidium iodide prepared in PBS plus
0.2% Tween 20 and washed with PBT (PBS-0.2% bovine serum
albumin-0.1% Tween 20).

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FIG. 1.
Confocal photomicrograph. Adherence of P.
gingivalis to KB epithelial cells is shown. The bacteria are
stained with SYBR II (green), and the cell nuclei are stained with
propidium iodide (red).

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FIG. 2.
Confocal photomicrograph: the serial sections (0.75 µm) show the presence of P. gingivalis in the
cytoplasm.

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FIG. 3.
The internalization of P. gingivalis is
accompanied by actin condensation (phalloidin-FITC) at the point of
invagination.

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FIG. 4.
(A) A cell with no internalized bacteria. The endocytic
vesicles are green. (B) The serial sections allow the adherent
red-stained bacteria to be visualized. (C) The internalized bacteria
are either stained red (free in cytoplasm) or orange (in vesicle).

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FIG. 5.
Viability of the internalized bacteria as shown by
acridine orange staining. The fluorescence of the adhering bacteria is
quenched by using crystal violet.

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FIG. 6.
Confocal photomicrograph. Immunolabeling of P.
gingivalis reveals the presence of numerous bacteria in each
cell on day 2.

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FIG. 7.
On day 3, the epithelial cell shows signs of significant
vacuole formation, while the presence of bacteria and bacterial
vesicles is revealed by immunolabeling.

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FIG. 8.
Intracellular viability of P. gingivalis
over time (measured as the number of CFU). Control, for each time, the
number of CFU recovered from the bacterial suspension without KB cells
(negligible CFU number).
2 integrin (CD11/CD18).
On the other hand, no receptors have been identified for cells that are
not professional phagocytes. While the membrane receptor of KB
cells for P. gingivalis fimbriae has not yet been
identified, Park and Lamont (33) have reported the
neosynthesis of class III proteins as soon as a P. gingivalis bacterium attaches to the epithelial cell. These
enable internalized bacteria to act directly on the metabolism of the
cell being invaded. The internalization of P. gingivalis is
also correlated with the tyrosine phosphorylation of a eukaryotic cell
protein (37) corresponding to the mitogen-activated
protein kinase involved in the internalization processes of other
pathogens (4, 35). It has also been shown that P. gingivalis induces an increase in intracellular calcium flux.
Calcium ions are also involved in numerous intercellular interactions
(16). Contamination times vary greatly, ranging from a few
minutes to 1 or 2 h (3, 25). Since the speed of P. gingivalis internalization did not enter into our study,
we settled on a contamination time of 1 h. Adherence and
internalization are more efficient with epithelial cells from primary
gingival tissue cultures, as shown by Belton (3), who
obtained a 90% contamination rate after 12 min. However, we decided to
use the established KB cell line, whose proliferation rate and
viability are constant, thus providing more reproducible results. While many articles have been published on the adherence and internalization mechanisms of P. gingivalis, the fate of the bacterium once
inside the eukaryotic cell has not been totally elucidated. Most recent studies report that P. gingivalis survives and proliferates
inside epithelial cells in vitro (25), but the life span
of the endocytotic vacuole has not been established. The bacteria
remain viable after internalization, as shown by the acridine orange
staining, and the production of intracellular vesicles is additional
proof of their viability. The presence of the pathogen inside the
vacuoles was confirmed using a dextran-Texas red conjugate. There
are several explanations for this behavior: P. gingivalis
acts to prevent lysosomal fusion, inhibits proton pumps, thus
preventing acidification of the vacuoles, or possesses mechanisms that
enable it to survive in a low-pH environment. More work will be
required to shed additional light on the survival strategies used by
this anaerobic bacterium. Our study revealed for the first time the
intracellular production of bacterial vesicles. These vesicles contain
large quantities of proteolytic material (27) because they
are formed from extrusions of the external membrane of the bacterium.
When released into the extracellular environment, they act both as
decoys that thwart the host immune system and as remote weapons that
project the virulence of the bacterium through their enzymatic
contents. As with previous studies (3, 25), significant
cytoplasmic vacuole formation was noted on day 2. This sign of distress
could be a reflection of damage to the epithelial cell caused by the
P. gingivalis vesicles. Our study has confirmed that the
pathogen is found mainly in the perinuclear space (3).
According to Belton, this may be due to interactions between the
bacterium and cell organites or the presence of the pathogen in late
endosomes, which are located in the perinuclear space. Confocal
microscopic observations subsequent to day 0 showed that the viability
of the pathogen within the eucaryotic cell was closely related to the
life span of the endocytotic vacuoles. Lamont and Jenkinson
(20) have reported that the vacuoles are lysed very soon
after the entry of the bacterium into the cell. With Shigella
flexneri, this event is correlated with the capacity to replicate
and express a motility phenotype linked to the production of a surface
protein (IcsA). IcsA directs the polymerization of actin filaments that
act as flagella (34). On the other hand, Njoroge et al.
(30) have reported that the vacuoles are not immediately
lysed. It has been suggested that cell invasion not only protects the
bacterium against the host immune system but also allows transcytosis,
leading to the invasion of underlying tissue. This invasion model,
which has been accepted for a number of internalizing bacterial species
(13, 34), would also seem to apply to P. gingivalis. Recent studies have suggested that P. gingivalis can invade the lower layers of connective tissue via a
paracellular pathway by degrading cell junction complexes (18). Some 0.6% of the initial CFU were recovered after
lysis of the contaminated KB cells, which is very close to the 0.65% obtained by Sandros et al. (38). Njoroge et al.
(30) and Duncan et al. (10), however,
reported lower levels of internalization, i.e., 0.02% and 0.07%,
respectively. Only Madianos et al. (25) reported extremely
high levels of bacterial internalization (60%) on day 0. Most studies
used essentially the same ratio, i.e., 100 bacteria per cell (10,
30, 38), while Madianos et al. (25) used a very low
ratio of 2 bacteria per cell. This suggests that epithelial cells that
are subjected to less aggression internalize more bacteria. P. gingivalis did not survive without cells. The bacterial
suspension, without KB cells, did not lead to any CFU during the entire
experiments. These results are in agreement with the findings of
previous studies (38), which revealed no bacterial
survival in the absence of epithelial cells. Moreover, Madianos et al.
(25) demonstrated that the supernatant counts remained low
and never exceeded 5% of the intracellular counts. All these results
demonstrated that CFU recovered from infected KB cells represent only
the intracellular P. gingivalis. Bacterial multiplication
occurred between days 0 and 2. Several authors have described the
intracellular replication of a number of pathogens, including
Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium
(19) and Vibrio hollisae (29). We
observed an increase in the number of bacteria on day 1, after which
the number of CFU dropped. This early multiplication of the
internalized bacteria may thwart the antibacterial mechanisms of the
contaminated cell and thus allow a sufficient number of pathogens to
survive to maintain a recurring infection. The production of toxic
antibacterial substances by the invaded cell may also, however, explain
the gradual reduction in the number of viable internalized bacteria.
Another hypothesis is that the pathogen may induce a message leading to
cell death. However, Madianos et al. (25) have described a
bacterial stress that would explain why intracellular
multiplication begins only after day 2. On the other hand, they also
reported a gradual drop in numbers until day 8. This difference with
respect to our results could be due to the small bacterial inoculum
they used. Furthermore, the in vitro model does not reproduce all in
vivo events, and pathogen-host cell interactions may thus be modified.
This work confirms that P. gingivalis adheres to and enters
KB cells. The pathogen is able to survive and multiply either free in
the cytoplasm or within endocytotic vacuoles. This mechanism allows
P. gingivalis to avoid host defenses and penetrate the
epithelium, thus causing infections in deeper tissue layers. The signs
of cell suffering observed confirm the cytotoxicity of the pathogen
and/or its vesicles, which provoke superficial periodontitis by lysing keratinocytes.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS |
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We thank Roselyne Primault for help with the confocal microscopy and Gene Bourgeau and Céline Allaire for editorial assistance.
This study was supported by the Fondation Langlois, the Institut Français de Recherche Odontologique, and the Conseil Régional de Bretagne.
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FOOTNOTES |
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* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Equipe de Biologie Buccale, Université de Rennes I, 2 place Pasteur, 35000 Rennes, France. Phone: 33 2 23 20 41 54. Fax: 33 2 23 20 41 09. E-mail: martine.bonnaure{at}univ-rennes1.fr.
Editor: B. B. Finlay
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