Aegerolysins are small (~13-20 kDa), β-structured proteins, with common prominent feature to interact with specific lipids / lipid domains, that are building blocks of various biological membranes. Some fungal aegerolysins are known to strongly associate with ceramide phosphoetanolamine (CPE) containing membranes. Ceramide phosphoetanolamine is characteristic lipid for prokaryotic phylum Bacteroidetes. Research in microbiome of dental plaque in periodontal disease has shown that Bacteroidetes are highly abundant in subgingival plaque samples of chronic periodontitis patients and represent the main causative bacterial agents of periodontal disease. To date, no accurate, precise, and reproducible indicators of periodontal disease have been developed. One of the potential molecules that can be considered as a biomarker of periodontal disease is a specific sphingolipid molecule, ceramide CPE. Due to the specific and strong interaction between aegerolysins and CPE, these proteins have potential to be used as molecular tools for the diagnosis of various diseases associated with higher levels of CPE. In this master thesis specific binding of erylysin A to CPE in lipid extracts of the periodontal bacteria Porphyromonas gingivalis and clinical samples of individuals diagnosed with periodontitis using dot blot and thin layer chromatography analyses was shown. Hypothesis of presence CPE in bacteria P. gingivalis was confirmed with precise lipidomic analysis carried out using liquid chromatography – electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-MS/MS) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR).
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