Ultrastructural localization of Porphyromonas gingivalis gingipains in the substantia nigra of Parkinson's disease brains.

ABSTRACT: Gingipains are protease virulence factors produced by Porphyromonas gingivalis, a Gram-negative bacterium best known for its role in chronic periodontitis. Gingipains were recently identified in the middle temporal gyrus of postmortem Alzheimer's disease (AD) brains, where gingipain load correlated with AD diagnosis and tau and ubiquitin pathology. Since AD and Parkinson's disease (PD) share some overlapping pathologic features, including nigral pathology and Lewy bodies, the current study explored whether gingipains are present in the substantia nigra pars compacta of PD brains. In immunohistochemical techniques and multi-channel fluorescence studies, gingipain antigens were abundant in dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra of both PD and neurologically normal control brains. 3-dim

SUBMITTER: Ermini F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11045759 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature