Figure 8.

EMT signaling induced during P. gingivalis infection in primary OECs. Schematic diagram of the proposed EMT signaling mechanisms in OECs during long-term infection by P. gingivalis. The dotted line indicates the pathway without P. gingivalis infection and the solid lines represent the path in the presence of infection: P. gingivalis increases PI3K/Akt activation (Yilmaz et al., 2004; Yao et al., 2010) which can lead to the inactivation of GSK3β, resulting in the increased expression of Snail and Slug transcription factors. These molecular changes promote the loss of E-cadherin and nucleo-cytoplasmic accumulation of β-catenin. The three transcription factors, Snail, Slug, and β-catenin induce the increased expressions of Zeb1, Vimentin, and MMP2, 7, and 9.