AUTHOR=Ebersole Jeffrey L. , Kirakodu Sreenatha S. , Neumann Elliot , Orraca Luis , Gonzalez Martinez Janis , Gonzalez Octavio A. 

TITLE=Oral Microbiome and Gingival Tissue Apoptosis and Autophagy Transcriptomics

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Immunology

VOLUME=11

YEAR=2020

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/immunology/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2020.585414

DOI=10.3389/fimmu.2020.585414

ISSN=1664-3224

ABSTRACT=<p><bold>Objective:</bold> This study focused on documenting characteristics of the gingival transcriptome during various stages of periodontitis targeting genes associated with apoptotic and autophagic pathways and changes that specifically associate with features of the oral microbiome.</p><p><bold>Methods:</bold><italic>Macaca mulatta</italic> (<italic>n</italic> = 18; 12–23 years) were examined at baseline and 0.5, 1, and 3 months of disease progression, as well as 5 months with clinical disease resolution. 16S sequencing and microarray analyses examined changes in the microbiome and gingival transcriptome, respectively, at each time point from every animal.</p><p><bold>Results:</bold> Specific patterns of apoptotic and autophagic genes were identified related to the initiation and progression of disease. The analysis also provided insights on the principal bacteria within the complex microbiome whose abundance was significantly correlated with differences in apoptotic and autophagic gene expression. Bacteria were identified that formed associated complexes with similar effects on the host gene expression profiles. A complex of <italic>Leptotrichia</italic>_unclassifed, <italic>Capnocytophaga</italic>_unclassified, <italic>Prevotella</italic> sp. 317, and <italic>Veillonellaceae</italic>_[G-1] sp. 155 were significantly negatively correlated with both apoptosis and autophagy. Whereas, <italic>Veillonellaceae</italic>_[G-1], <italic>Porphyromonadaceae</italic>, and <italic>F. alocis</italic> 539 were significantly positively correlated with both pathways, albeit this relationship was primarily associated with pro-apoptotic genes.</p><p><bold>Conclusions:</bold> The findings provide evidence for specific bacteria/bacterial complexes within the oral microbiome that appear to have a more substantive effect on regulating apoptotic and autophagic pathways in the gingival tissues with periodontitis.</p>