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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2015 Feb 1.
Published in final edited form as: Eur J Immunol. 2014 Feb;44(2):328–338. doi: 10.1002/eji.201344202

Figure 2. Synergistic and antagonistic interactions between P. gingivalis and oral streptococci.

Figure 2

(A) P. gingivalis fimbrial adhesins FimA and Mfa1 engage the S. gordonii adhesins GAPDH and SspA/B, respectively, and the two species accumulate into a heterotypic community. Mfa1 binding activates a signal transduction cascade within P. gingivalis based on protein tyrosine (de)phosphorylation. Ultimately expression of Mfa1 is downregulated and community development is constrained. Production and activity of P. gingivalis proteases is elevated and the heterotypic community has enhanced pathogencity in bone loss models in vivo. (B) Contact of the P. gingivalis FimA fimbriae with arginine deiminase (ArcA) on the surface of S. cristatus results in downregulation of FimA. Consequently P. gingivalis fails to adhere to S. cristatus, colonization is impeded, and P. gingivalis is inversely correlated with S. cristatus in vivo.