Division of Molecular Periodontology, Department of Odontology, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden.
Division of Oral Microbiology, Department of Odontology, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden.
J Periodontal Res. 2017 Oct;52(5):903-912. doi: 10.1111/jre.12462. Epub 2017 Apr 10.
Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans is involved in oral and systemic infections, and is associated with, eg aggressive forms of periodontitis and with endocarditis. The cagE gene encodes a ≈39 kDa putative exotoxin expressed by A. actinomycetemcomitans. The level of conservation of cagE, and its possible significance in periodontal disease, has not yet been thoroughly investigated. In the present study, the role of the cagE gene as a diagnostic marker has been investigated.
We have used conventional polymerase chain reaction (PCR), quantitative PCR and whole genome sequencing data to determine the prevalence of cagE in A. actinomycetemcomitans based on analysis of: (i) 249 isolates, collected and cultivated in a Ghanaian longitudinal cohort study; (ii) a serotype b collection of 19 strains; and (iii) the 36 A. actinomycetemcomitans genomes available in the NCBI database.
Whereas cagE was absent in the other serotypes, our data support that this gene sequence is linked to a virulent and highly leukotoxic group of serotype b strains, including both JP2 and non-JP2 genotypes of A. actinomycetemcomitans.
We propose that cagE has the potential to be used as a PCR-based gene marker for the identification of a virulent and highly leukotoxic group of serotype b strains, including both JP2 and non-JP2 genotypes. This finding might be of importance in the risk assessment of the development of periodontal attachment loss in young individuals and hence suggested to be a relevant discovery in future development of new diagnostic tools and/or treatment strategies.
聚集放线杆菌参与口腔和全身感染，与侵袭性牙周炎和心内膜炎等疾病有关。cagE 基因编码一种由聚集放线杆菌表达的约 39 kDa 假定外毒素。cagE 的保守程度及其在牙周病中的可能意义尚未得到充分研究。本研究旨在探讨 cagE 基因作为诊断标志物的作用。
我们使用常规聚合酶链反应（PCR）、定量 PCR 和全基因组测序数据，通过分析以下内容来确定聚集放线杆菌中 cagE 的流行情况：（i）在加纳纵向队列研究中收集和培养的 249 株分离株；（ii）19 株血清型 b 菌株的集合；（iii）NCBI 数据库中可用的 36 株聚集放线杆菌基因组。
cagE 在其他血清型中不存在，但我们的数据支持该基因序列与一种毒力高、白细胞毒性强的血清型 b 菌株群相关，包括聚集放线杆菌的 JP2 和非 JP2 基因型。
我们提出 cagE 有可能作为基于 PCR 的基因标记，用于鉴定一种毒力高、白细胞毒性强的血清型 b 菌株群，包括 JP2 和非 JP2 基因型。这一发现可能对评估年轻人牙周附着丧失的发展风险具有重要意义，因此建议在未来开发新的诊断工具和/或治疗策略时将其作为一项重要发现。
