Degradation of human α- and β-defensins by culture supernatants of Porphyromonas gingivalis

Porphyromonas gingivalis produces proteases capable of degrading cytokines, host heme proteins, and some antimicrobial peptides. In this work, I show that P. gingivalis culture supernatants fully or partially degrade human neutrophil peptide alpha-defensins and human beta-defensins after 30 minutes. This observation suggests that proteases from P. gingivalis degrade defensins and this activity could abrogate defensin-related innate immune functions.