Differential epithelial cell response upon stimulation with the Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans strains VT 1169, VT 1560 DAM- and ATCC 4318

Abstract

Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans is known to play a role in human inflammatory oral diseases. the present study aimed to test whether GECs from different individuals show an altered immune response when exposed to wild-type A. actinomycetemcomitans biofilms (VT 1169 and AtCC43718) versus VT 1560 lacking a DNA-adenine-methyltransferase (DAM-). GECs were cultured from biopsies derived from three healthy subjects (A-C). to obtain A. actinomycetemcomitans biofilms, each strain (VT 1169, AtCC 43718 and VT 1560 DAM-) was separately cultured on polymer disks. the mrNA expression of hBD-2, Rnase7, iL-8 and glycerylaldehyd-3-phosphodehydrogenase was analyzed using semi-quantitative RT-PCR. in GECs, the DAM strain Vt 1560 led to a reduced gene expression of hBD-2 and IL-8 compared to VT 1169, but not ATCC 43718. in GECs from subject C, the mrNA expression of hBD-2 and IL-8 was significantly upregulated in response to A. actinomycetemcomitans VT 1169 compared to VT 1560 DAM- and ATCC 43718 (p ≤ 0.05), whereas GECs from subject A and B did not show significant changes for hBD-2 or IL-8 gene expression upon stimulation with either of the strains tested. the present study indicates strain-dependent and subject-specific immune responses in GECs after exposure to DAM+ or DAM- A. actinomycetemcomitans. © 2010 Landes Bioscience.