Gingival Epithelial Cell Responses to a Complex Microbiome Comprising Commensal and Opportunistic Oral Microbial Species

Transcriptional profiling was utilized to define the biological pathways of gingival epithelial cells modulated by mono- and complex co-culture with oral commensal S. gordonii and pathogenic P. gingivalis. We used microarrays to detail the global programme of gene expression underlying infection and identified distinct classes of up- and down-regulated genes during this process. Keywords: infection state Gingival epithelial HIGK cells were sham infected (CTRL) and infected with either the oral commensal S. gordonii (Sg) or the pathogenic P. gingivalis (Pg) as well as co-cultured in mixed cultures of Sg and Pg (Sg+Pg). These samples were hybridized to Affymetrix microarrays. Understanding how host cells have adapted to commensals, and how barrier cells respond to limit their impact, provides a mechanistic biological basis of health in the mixed bacterial-human ecosystem of the oral cavity and provides insight on how the degree of complexity of a microbiome influences this balance.