Periodontitis, pathogenesis and progression: miRNA-mediated cellular responses to Porphyromonas gingivalis

Porphyromonas gingivalis is considered a keystone pathogen in periodontitis, a disease typically driven by dysbiosis of oral inflammophilic polymicrobial pathobionts. To combat infectious agents, the natural defense response of the host is to switch on inflammatory signaling cascades, whereby microRNA (miRNA) species serve as alternative genetic inhibitory transcriptional endpoints. miRNA profiles from diseased sites differ from those detected in disease-free tissues. miRNA profiles could therefore be harnessed as potential diagnostic/prognostic tools. The regulatory role of some miRNA species (miRNA-128, miRNA-146, miRNA-203, and miRNA-584) in the innate immune system suggests these molecular signatures also have potential in therapy. P. gingivalis–associated miRNAs are likely to influence the innate immune response, whereas its lipopolysaccharide may affect the nature of host miRNAs and their mRNA targets. This mini review discusses miRNA-dependent transcriptional and regulatory phenomena ensuing immune signaling cascade switch-on with development and progression of periodontitis initiated by P. gingivalis exposure.