FIG 6.

Strains 33277 and 381 display pronounced differences in cell surface gingipain activity toward a defined substrate. Western blot analysis of degradation reactions of the gingipain substrate LL-37. For degradation reactions, synthetic LL-37 was exposed to 33277, 381, or the gingipain-deficient strain 33.k.rA.rB TKO for the indicated times. All samples loaded were from equivalent reaction volumes, except for the 33.k.rA.rB TKO sample, which was loaded at a 1/10 reaction volume relative to the other samples. The asterisk indicates the position of a minor variant form of LL-37 peptide present in the synthetic peptide preparation. The data shown are representative of three independent experiments.