Plasmin inhibition by bacterial serpin: Implications in gum disease

Alicja Sochaj-Gregorczyk, Miroslaw Ksiazek, Irena Waligorska, Anna Straczek, Malgorzata Benedyk, Danuta Mizgalska, Ida B Thøgersen, Jan J Enghild, Jan Potempa

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11 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Tannerella forsythia is a periodontopathogen that expresses miropin, a protease inhibitor in the serpin superfamily. In this study, we show that miropin is also a specific and efficient inhibitor of plasmin; thus, it represents the first proteinaceous plasmin inhibitor of prokaryotic origin described to date. Miropin inhibits plasmin through the formation of a stable covalent complex triggered by cleavage of the Lys368-Thr369 (P2-P1) reactive site bond with a stoichiometry of inhibition of 3.8 and an association rate constant (kass) of 3.3 × 105 M-1s-1. The inhibition of the fibrinolytic activity of plasmin was nearly as effective as that exerted by α2-antiplasmin. Miropin also acted in vivo by reducing blood loss in a mice tail bleeding assay. Importantly, intact T. forsythia cells or outer membrane vesicles, both of which carry surface-associated miropin, strongly inhibited plasmin. In intact bacterial cells, the antiplasmin activity of miropin protects envelope proteins from plasmin-mediated degradation. In summary, in the environment of periodontal pockets, which are bathed in gingival crevicular fluid consisting of 70% of blood plasma, an abundance of T. forsythia in the bacterial biofilm can cause local inhibition of fibrinolysis, which could have possible deleterious effects on the tooth-supporting structures of the periodontium.

Original languageEnglish
JournalFASEB journal : official publication of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology
Volume34
Issue1
Pages (from-to)619-630
Number of pages12
ISSN0892-6638
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2020

Keywords

  • Tannerella forsythia
  • fibrinolysis
  • periodontitis
  • plasmin
  • serpin

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