Cloning, expression and characterization of fibroblast-activating factor of Porphyromonas gingivalis

Abstract

Porphyromonas gingivalis is an important pathogen in periodontal disease. This organism can produce a wide spectrum of virulence factors that destroys the periodontium. In the study, a putative fibroblast-activating factor (FAF) gene from a virulent strain, P. gingivalis W50 was cloned, expressed and purified. Cell proliferation assays using HeLa and NIH 3T3 showed that FAF has the ability to stimulate cell growth of both cell lines and it did not increase the intracellular levels of cAMP and IP3 in cells. Since fibroblasts are the main cell population in periodontal tissues, FAF could contribute to the disease progression by interfering the balance between proliferation and differentiation of fibroblasts in vivo.