Dr. Salomon Amar and Team Shed Light on Key Step in Periodontal Disease Onset

In a paper published in the June issue of the Journal of Proteome Research, Boston University School of Dental Medicine Associate Dean for Research Dr. Salomon Amar and researchers show white blood cells known as monocytes interact differently with P. gingivalis, the tissue-damaging oral bacterium that causes periodontal disease, and two inflammation-causing proteins attached to the bacterium: Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and Fimbriae (FimA).

Amar worked on the paper, “Proteomic Mapping of Stimulus-Specific Signaling Pathways Involved in THP-1 Cells Exposed to Porphyromonas gingivalis or Its Purified Components,” with fellow researchers Julian A. Saba, Mark E. McComb, Donna L. Potts, and Catherine E. Costello.

The team used expressions proteomics, which tracks changes in the cells’ protein outputs, to explain how monocytes interact differently with the whole bacterium and its parts. The monocytes showed 12 differential expressions, or modifications, after exposure to P. gingivalis, 11 differential expressions from LPS, and nine from FimA. The ability to map what is triggering the monocytes’ response will lead to better treatment options for periodontal disease in the future, according to Amar.

An interview with Amar on this topic appears online in the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research’s (NIDCR) publication The Inside Scoop.