Characterization of a quinol peroxidase mutant in Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans

Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans is an oral pathogen causing localized aggressive periodontitis (LAP). Recently, we characterized for the first time a quinol peroxidase (QPO) that catalyzes peroxidase activity using quinol in the respiratory chain of A. actinomycetemcomitans for the reduction of hydrogen peroxide. In the present study, we characterized the phenotype of a QPO null mutant. The QPO null mutant shows an oxidative stress phenotype, suggesting that QPO plays a certain role in scavenging endogenously generated reactive oxygen species. Notably, we discovered that the QPO null mutant exhibits a production defect of leukotoxin (LtxA), which is a secreted bacterial toxin and is known to target human leukocytes and erythrocytes. This result suggests that QPO would be considered as a potential drug target to inhibit the expression of LtxA from A. actinomycetemcomitans for the treatment and prevention of LAP.