Isolation and preliminary characterization of the Porphyromonas gingivalis prtC gene expressing collagenase activity.

A gene, prtC, has been isolated from Porphyromonas gingivalis ATCC 53977 in Escherichia coli utilizing the plasmid vector pPL-lambda. The resultant protease positive clone NHS1, harboring plasmid pS1 with a 5.9-kilobase P. gingivalis insert, expressed an enzyme capable of hydrolyzing the synthetic collagenase substrate PZ-PLGPA as well as solubilized type I collagen. Subcloning and deletion analysis located the prtC gene at one end of the P. gingivalis DNA insert on plasmid pS1.