A. Delillo et al., BINDING AND DEGRADATION OF LACTOFERRIN BY PORPHYROMONAS-GINGIVALIS, PREVOTELLA-INTERMEDIA AND PREVOTELLA-NIGRESCENS, FEMS immunology and medical microbiology, 14(2-3), 1996, pp. 135-143
The ability of laboratory and clinical strains of Polphyromonas gingiv
alis, Prevotella intermedia and Prevotella nigrescens to bind and to d
egrade lactoferrin (Lf) has been assessed. Lf bound readily to whole c
ells of each species apparently via a high-affinity site and one or mo
re low-affinity sites. P. gingivalis showed a lower affinity for Lf th
an the other two species (P < 0.001). Virtually all strains of P. ging
ivalis completely degraded Lf under the conditions employed, whereas P
. intermedia and P. nigrescens showed only partial degradation. These
data suggest that Lf binds to a high-affinity receptor on all these ba
cteria and, particularly in the case of P. gingivalis, is then degrade
d by cell-associated proteases. This property may provide protection t
o the cell against the effects of Lf in periodontal sites and so is a
possible virulence factor in disease. There was no association between
the ability to degrade Lf and whether the strains had originated from
healthy or diseased oral sites.