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. 2002 Feb 15;362(Pt 1):239–245. doi: 10.1042/0264-6021:3620239

Interactions of Porphyromonas gingivalis with oxyhaemoglobin and deoxyhaemoglobin.

John W Smalley 1, Andrew J Birss 1, Robert Withnall 1, Jack Silver 1
PMCID: PMC1222381  PMID: 11829761

Abstract

When grown on blood-containing solid media, the anaerobic periodontal pathogen Porphyromonas gingivalis produces a haem pigment, the major component of which is the mu-oxo bishaem of iron protoporphyrin IX [Smalley, Silver, Marsh and Birss (1998) Biochem. J. 331, 681-685]. In this study, mu-oxo bishaem generation by P. gingivalis from oxy- and deoxyhaemoglobin was examined. Bacterial cells were shown to convert oxyhaemoglobin into methaemoglobin, which was degraded progressively, generating a mixture of both monomeric and mu-oxo dimeric iron protoporphyrin IX. The rate of methaemoglobin formation was accelerated in the presence of bacterial cells, but was inhibited by N-ethylmaleimide and tosyl-lysylchloromethylketone. Interaction of cells with deoxyhaemoglobin resulted in formation of an iron(III) haem species (Soret gamma(max), 393 nm), identified as pure mu-oxo bishaem.

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Selected References

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