Chaperones or heat shock proteins are found in all cells from bacteria to man and are among the most highly conserved and immunodominant molecules in nature. Originally thought to facilitate the three dimensional assembly of proteins it has become increasingly clear that these molecules have functions involving the immune response to a variety of microorganisms. In addition it has been shown that protective response to stress proteins may be involved in control of diseases like IBD, Legionella, Yersinia, Chlamydia and H. pylori infections and arteriosclerosis. The long-term goals of this work is to deliniate the mechanisms of chaperone involvement in periodontitis and periodontitis-related systemic disease and to develop strategies for medicinal treatment for those diseases. We have shown that elevated levels of antibodies to the HSP90 homolog (HtpG) of the periodontal pathogen P. gingivalis were found associated with better oral health in a group of gingivitis subjects. During our current grant we have demonstrated HtpG has the ability to induce immunomodulatory activity similar to chaperones from other bacteria associated with chronic infectious diseases. In periodontitis P. gingivalis HtpG recruits antibody producing cells to the lesion and upregulates chemokine receptors on both leukocytes and vascular cells contributing to the continuning tissue destruction. HtpG is found in circulation and CVD atheromas and can induce foam cell formation, an important step in atherosclerotic plaque formation. Antibodies to HtpG downregulate IL-8 production in both leukocytes and vein cells and may mitigate the inflammatory effects in periodontitis. This application will 1) chacterize the distinct receptor-mediated immunomodulatory activities of P. gingivalis HtpG in vitro;2) demonstrate the same activity in vivo in periodontitis and vascular tissue by microdisection, genomic/proteomic approaches;3) correlate serum antibodies to the presence of the molecules that drive this process. Such a demonstration will prepare the way for novel therapeutic and diagnostic modalities for both periodontitis and periodontitisrelated systemic diseases. PROJECT NARATIVE: Molecules that produce a particular class of proteins proteins in cells called chaperones can become involved in disease processes under some circumstances. Understanding the way this happens can lead to treatments for chronic diseases that are the result of long-lasting, unresolved periodontitis.
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