Porphyromonas gingivalisOuter Membrane Vesicles Mediate Coaggregation and Piggybacking ofTreponema denticolaandLachnoanaerobaculum saburreum

摘要

Porphyromonas gingivalissheds outer membrane vesicles that contain several virulence factors, including adhesins. In this study, we investigated the ability ofP. gingivalisouter membrane vesicles to mediate the coaggregation and piggybacking ofTreponema denticolaandLachnoanaerobaculum saburreum. Marked coaggregation betweenT. denticolaandL. saburreumoccurred in the presence ofP. gingivalisouter membrane vesicles. Sucrose was an effective chemoattractant for the motile speciesT. denticola. The addition of outer membrane vesicles to a mixture ofT. denticolaandL. saburreumsignificantly increased the number of nonmotile bacteria that migrated into a sucrose-filled capillary tube immersed in the bacterial mixture. Under optimal conditions, the number of nonmotileL. saburreumin the capillary tube increased approximately 5-fold, whereas no increase occurred when boiled vesicles were used. This study showed thatP. gingivalisouter membrane vesicles mediate coaggregation betweenT. denticolaandL. saburreumand that nonmotile bacteria can be translocated by piggybacking on spirochetes.