Complement and Dysbiosis in Periodontal Disease

Signaling crosstalk between complement and Toll-like receptors (TLRs) normally serves to coordinate host immunity. However, the periodontal bacterium Porphyromonas gingivalis expresses C5 convertase-like enzymatic activity and adeptly exploits complement-TLR crosstalk to subvert host defenses and escape elimination. Intriguingly, this defective immune surveillance leads to the remodeling of the periodontal microbiota to a dysbiotic state that causes inflammatory periodontitis. Understanding the mechanisms by which P. gingivalis modulates complement function to cause dysbiosis offers new targets for complement therapeutics.