Author summary Periodontal disease is driven by dysbiosis of the oral microbiome, which interacts with host tissues and thereby induces the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines, chemokines, and tissue-remodeling matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), leading to destruction of the periodontal tissues. Even after clinical intervention, patients with severe periodontal disease are left with a persistent pro-inflammatory transcriptional profile throughout the periodontium. The oral spirochete, Treponema denticola (T. denticola), is consistently found at elevated levels in periodontal lesions and is associated with several pathophysiological effects driving periodontal disease progression. The T. denticola surface-expressed protease complex (dentilisin) has cytopathic effects consistent with periodontal disease pathogenesis. To date, few direct links have been reported between dentilisin and the cellular and tissue processes that drive periodontal tissue destruction at the transcriptional and/or epigenetic levels. Here, we utilize wild type and dentilisin-deficient T. denticola as well as purified dentilisin to characterize dentilisin-dependent activation of intracellular pathways controlling MMP expression and activity. Our results define a role for dentilisin in initiating this signal cascade. Also, our study identified tissue-specific inducible MMPs that may play novel roles in modulating as-yet uncharacterized host responses in periodontal disease. Lastly, T. denticola dentilisin stimulates tissue-destructive cellular processes in a TLR2/MyD88/Sp1-dependent fashion. Taken together, our study provides new insights into the molecular mechanisms underpinning periodontal disease progression which could lead to the development of more efficacious therapeutic treatments. Periodontal disease is driven by dysbiosis in the oral microbiome, resulting in over-representation of species that induce the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines, chemokines, and tissue-remodeling matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) in the periodontium. These chronic tissue-destructive inflammatory responses result in gradual loss of tooth-supporting alveolar bone. The oral spirochete Treponema denticola (T. denticola), is consistently found at significantly elevated levels in periodontal lesions. Host-expressed Toll-Like Receptor 2 (TLR2) senses a variety of bacterial ligands, including acylated lipopolysaccharides and lipoproteins. T. denticola dentilisin, a surface-expressed protease complex comprised of three lipoproteins has been implicated as a virulence factor in periodontal disease, primarily due to its proteolytic activity. While the role of acylated bacterial components in induction of inflammation is well-studied, little attention has been given to the potential role of the acylated nature of dentilisin. The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that T. denticola dentilisin activates a TLR2-dependent mechanism, leading to upregulation of tissue-destructive genes in periodontal tissue. RNA-sequencing of periodontal ligament cells challenged with T. denticola bacteria revealed significant upregulation of genes associated with extracellular matrix organization and degradation including potentially tissue-specific inducible MMPs that may play novel roles in modulating host immune responses that have yet to be characterized within the context of oral disease. The Gram-negative oral commensal, Veillonella parvula, failed to upregulate these same MMPs. Dentilisin-induced upregulation of MMPs was mediated via TLR2 and MyD88 activation, since knockdown of expression of either abrogated these effects. Challenge with purified dentilisin upregulated the same MMPs while a dentilisin-deficient T. denticola mutant had no effect. Finally, T. denticola-mediated activation of TLR2/MyD88 lead to the nuclear translocation of the transcription factor Sp1, which was shown to be a critical regulator of all T. denticola-dependent MMP expression. Taken together, these data suggest that T. denticola dentilisin stimulates tissue-destructive cellular processes in a TLR2/MyD88/Sp1-dependent fashion.
