title: Oral epithelial overexpression of IL-1alpha causes periodontal disease.
abstract: Periodontal disease is a bacterial infection that results in inflammatory destruction of tissues that support the teeth, including connective tissue and bone. In this study, we report that transgenic mice that overexpress the 17-kDa form of IL-1alpha in the basal layer of oral mucosal epithelium develop a syndrome that possesses all of the cardinal features of periodontal disease, including epithelial proliferation and apical migration, loss of attachment, and destruction of cementum and alveolar bone. In this model, bacterial colonization and infection were not required, since levels of periodontal bacteria were equivalent in transgenic and wild-type mice, and continuous treatment with antibiotics from birth did not ameliorate the disease. Our findings therefore indicate that elevated levels of IL-1alpha in the oral micro-environment can mediate all of the clinical features of periodontal disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cytokine Biology, The Forsyth Institute, 140 The Fenway, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dayan
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Stashenko
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Niederman
authors.forename: T S
authors.initials: TS
authors.lastname: Kupper
mesh_terms: D016301:Alveolar Bone Loss / Q000209:etiology; D000818:Animals; D003773:Dental Plaque / Q000382:microbiology; D015870:Gene Expression; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D007375:Interleukin-1 / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000502:physiology; D015603:Keratinocytes / Q000378:metabolism; D051379:Mice; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D009061:Mouth Mucosa / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D010518:Periodontitis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D007375:Interleukin-1