JMF

provided advice and expertise from a dentist’s perspective and revised the manuscript. INK1197 order All authors read and approved the final manuscript.”
“Background The Bacteroides spp. are a group of Gram-negative anaerobes from the phylum Bacteroidetes. Members of the Bacteroides spp. occupy regions of the terminal ileum and colon, where they are a major component of the normal human gut microbiota. Although they are commensals, Bacteroides can cause opportunistic infections that may be triggered when the integrity of the mucosal wall of the intestine is compromised or breached, commonly leading to abdominal abscesses and bloodstream infections. Conditions that cause such a loss of intestinal barrier function include gastrointestinal surgery, perforated or gangrenous appendicitis, perforated ulcer, diverticulitis, and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) [1]. Two of the most

frequently isolated Bacteroides spp. from anaerobic infections are B. fragilis and B. thetaiotaomicron. Significantly, although B. fragilis accounts for only 4% to 13% of the normal human fecal microbiota it is isolated from 63% to 80% of Bacteroides infections. B. thetaiotaomicron A-1155463 on the other hand accounts for between 15% and 29% of the fecal microbiota but is linked with only 13% to 17% of infection cases [2]. This indicates that B. fragilis may be a more successful opportunistic pathogen then other related Bacteroides spp. The majority of contemporary molecular studies on Bacteroides spp. focus on the mechanisms of polysaccharide utilization [2–4], with very few virulence mechanisms that contribute to the ability of Bacteroides spp. ability to act as opportunistic pathogens described. Among those that have, cell adherence, lipopolysaccharide production, and the production of neuraminidase, enterotoxin, and proteolytic this website enzymes have been proposed to play a role in B. fragilis pathogenicity Farnesyltransferase [5]. B. fragilis also has the ability to produce several haemolysins [6]. Haemolysins have been identified as powerful virulence determinants in both Gram-positive and

Gram-negative bacteria [7, 8]. Recently we identified a large panel of orthologous genes encoding C10 proteases in the phylum Bacteroidetes, including a set of four paralogous genes (called Bfp1-4) in B. fragilis[9]. C10 proteases are papain-like cysteine proteases, and include Streptococcal pyrogenic exotoxin B (SpeB) from Streptococcus pyogenes, and Interpain A from Prevotella intermedia. Both of these enzymes have been implicated in virulence [10–13]. SpeB has been shown to cleave cytokines [14], activate the host matrix metalloprotease MMP-9, and to release kinin from kininogen [13]. In this way SpeB contributes to tissue damage and Streptococcus pyogenes invasion of the host [15]. Interpain A contributes to the pathogenesis of P.