Regulation of Porphyromonas gingivalis gene expression

Funding Activity

Website
http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/454618

Funding Status
Closed

Does something not look right? The information on this page has been harvested from data sources that may not be up to date. We continue to work with information providers to improve coverage and quality. To report an issue, use the .

Funded Activity Summary

Chronic periodontitis (gum disease) is a chronic inflammatory disease of the supporting tissues of the teeth associated with bacteria that results in the destruction of tooth support and can ultimately lead to tooth loss. The disease is a major public health problem with a large economic burden and has been associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. The bacterium Porphyromonas gingivalis is recognized as the major causative pathogen in the development of chronic periodontitis. This bacterium is part of subgingival dental plaque, a biofilm attached to the surface of the tooth below the gum line, and releases a range of proteins and cytotoxic agents that cause damage to the tooth's supporting tissues both directly and indirectly through the dysregulation of the host's immune response. To cause disease this bacterium must be able to grow as a biofilm and withstand the immune response of the host. Detailed knowledge of how this bacterium is able to establish and proliferate in subgingival plaque, tolerate the oxidative attack and elevated temperatures that are part of the immune response and obtain the essential micronutrient iron will provide new targets for the development of specific inhibitors that may have utility as an adjunctive therapeutic for the control of chronic periodontitis. We will use a state of the art DNA microarray analysis to determine the proteins that regulate genes associated with the virulence of this bacterium. The insights we gain from this study will have broader application for the understanding of human disease that is caused by bacteria that grow as biofilms on various surfaces of the human body.

Funded Activity Details

Start Date: 01-01-2007

End Date: 01-01-2009

Funding Scheme: NHMRC Project Grants

Funding Amount: $531,696.00

Funder: National Health and Medical Research Council

Research Topics

ANZSRC Field of Research (FoR)

Dentistry

ANZSRC Socio-Economic Objective (SEO)

There are no SEO codes available for this funding activity

Other Keywords

Biofilm | Chronic Inflammation | Oral health | Periondontal disease | Porphyromonas gingivalis | Transcriptional regulators | Virulence traits

Related Links