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J Clin Microbiol. 1991 July; 29(7): 1397-1406

Biochemical properties of the outer membrane of Treponema denticola.

Department of Microbiology, Loyola University Medical Center, Maywood, Illinois 60153.

ABSTRACT

The outer membranes (OMs) from serovars a, b, and c of Treponema denticola, originally isolated from periodontal patients, were prepared. Dialysis of the OMs against 20 mM MgCl2 yielded the aggregable (A) and the nonaggregable (NA) moieties of the OMs. The absence of muramic acid, adenosine triphosphatase, hexokinase, and nucleic acid as well as electron microscopy indicated that the OM preparations were homogeneous. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of the A and NA moieties of the OMs showed approximately 25 Coomassie brilliant blue R-250 stain-positive bands or 47 silver-stained polypeptides. The relative molecular masses ranged between 14 and 97 kDa. The electrophoretic polypeptide profiles of the A and NA moieties shared many similarities among serovars a, b, and c. However, they exhibited variation in the overall pattern, intensity, or location of the polypeptide stained zones. This was especially true for serovar b. Two-dimensional electrophoretic studies showed an excess of 100 silver-stained spots with isoelectric points of 4.6 to 7.0 and relative molecular masses in the 14- to 97-kDa range. The OMs contained simple proteins, glycoproteins, and lipoproteins. The NA moieties of the OMs contained 4 to 6, 10 to 12, and 4 to 6 glycopeptides as well as two, seven, and two lipoprotein bands for serovars a, b, and c, respectively. The A moieties of the OMs showed 7 to 9, 11 to 13 and 5 to 6 glycopeptides as well as four, five, and three lipoprotein bands for serovars a, b, and c, respectively. Lipopolysaccharide was detected in the OMs of the three serovars following removal of proteins with proteinase K, pronase and silver staining of sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gels, or removal of lipopolysaccharide from the OMs by hot phenol extraction. The 66- and 53-kDa bands were present in serovars b and c, while a band with a relative molecular mass of 45 kDa was present only in serovar c. Endotoxin-like activity was also shown in the OMs of the three serovars by the Limulus amebocyte clotting assay and the chick embryo lethality test. This is the first report on selected biochemical properties of the OM macromolecules of three known serovars of T. denticola.

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