Porphyromonas gingivalis interaction with Candida albicans allows for aerobic escape, virulence and adherence

Caroline A. de Jongh, Floris J. Bikker, Teun J. de Vries, Arie Werner, Susan Gibbs, Bastiaan P. Krom*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to JournalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

In the oral cavity Candida albicans interacts with many oral bacteria, including Porphyromonas gingivalis, both physically and metabolically. The aim of this in vitro study was to characterize these interactions and study their effects on the survival of P. gingivalis. First, metabolic interactions were evaluated by counting the colony forming units (CFU) after co-culturing. The results indicated that the anaerobic bacterium P. gingivalis survives under aerobic conditions when co-cultured with C. albicans. This is due to the oxygen consumption by C. albicans as determined by a reduction in survival upon the addition of Antimycin A. By measuring the protease activity, it was found that the presence of C. albicans induced gingipain activity by P. gingivalis, which is an important virulence factor. Adherence of P. gingivalis to hyphae of C. albicans was observed with a dynamic flow system. Using various C. albicans mutants, it was shown that the mechanism of adhesion was mediated by the cell wall adhesins, members of the agglutinin-like sequence (Als) family: Als3 and Als1. Furthermore, the two microorganisms could be co-cultured into forming a biofilm in which P. gingivalis can survive under aerobic culturing conditions, which was imaged using scanning electron microscopy. This study has further elucidated mechanisms of interaction, virulence acquisition and survival of P. gingivalis when co-cultured with C. albicans. Such survival could be essential for the pathogenicity of P. gingivalis in the oxygen-rich niches of the oral cavity. This study has emphasized the importance of interaction between different microbes in promoting survival, virulence and attachment of pathogens, which could be essential in facilitating penetration into the environment of the host.

Original languageEnglish
Article number100172
Pages (from-to)1-9
Number of pages9
JournalBiofilm
Volume7
Early online date17 Dec 2023
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jun 2024

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The authors thank prof P. van Dijck for kindly providing C. albicans mutants and Wendy Kaman for providing the protocol and materials for the gingipain activity assay. Purchase of the Bioflux Z1000 system was made possible by a grant from the Division for Earth and Life Sciences (ALW) with financial aid from the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) with reference number 843.13.006.

Funding Information:
This project is funded by the faculty of Dentistry, Academic Centre for Dentistry in Amsterdam, University of Amsterdam and Free University of Amsterdam.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Authors

Funding

The authors thank prof P. van Dijck for kindly providing C. albicans mutants and Wendy Kaman for providing the protocol and materials for the gingipain activity assay. Purchase of the Bioflux Z1000 system was made possible by a grant from the Division for Earth and Life Sciences (ALW) with financial aid from the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) with reference number 843.13.006. This project is funded by the faculty of Dentistry, Academic Centre for Dentistry in Amsterdam, University of Amsterdam and Free University of Amsterdam.

Keywords

  • Adherence
  • Candida albicans
  • Gingipains
  • Porphyromonas gingivalis
  • Survival

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