The role of MMP12 in the progression of periodontitis

The main goal of this project is to investigate the role of MMP12 in the molecular and cellular effects of periodontal disease using the bioinformatic approach, in vitro and in vivo experimental models. The bioinformatic analysis indicated that MMP12 was upregulated in the periodontitis patients, compared with the health control. In vivo and in vitro experiments indicated that MMP12 deficiency exhibited reduced inflammatory cell infiltration and a significant decrease in osteoclasts, leading to alleviation of periodontal inflammation through decreasing the expression of PD-L1 thereby promoting the M2 macrophage polarization.