Production of protective antibodies against Porphyromonas gingivalis strains by immunization with recombinant gingipain domains.

We studied the effect of antibodies against Porphyromonas gingivalis gingipain domains, preparing them against three recombinant fragments of RgpA (catalytic domain, r-Rgp CAT; hemagglutinin domains, r-Rgp 44 and r-Rgps 15-27) and one fragment of Kgp (catalytic domain, r-Kgp CAT). Enhancement of opsonization and killing by human polymorphonuclear leukocytes were measured in the noninvasive FDC 381 and invasive W50 strains of P. gingivalis. Anti-r-Rgp 44 was the most effective in both strains of P. gingivalis. The present findings lead us to recommend RgpA 44 as a candidate immunogen for vaccines against P. gingivalis.