Contribution of proteomics to our understanding of periodontal inflammation

Periodontal diseases entail the inflammatory destruction of the tooth supporting (periodontal) tissues and may eventually lead tooth loss. Severe periodontal disease (or periodontitis) affects approximately 10% of the global population. Periodontitis not only severely deteriorates people's quality of life by impairing the dentition but also adversely affects systemic health. The present review paper highlights the advancements made in our understanding of inflammatory periodontal diseases by the use of proteomic technologies. The novel information comes from both clinical and in vitro studies, the former investigating samples of saliva and gingival crevicular fluid in patients with periodontal disease, whereas the latter utilizing host cell/tissue-bacteria/biofilm interaction models of relevance to periodontal disease. A broad range of information on protein profiles can be obtained, which is useful, however needs to be individually validated by golden-standard sensitive antibody-based methods. The development of the employed proteomic platform technologies will help complete in breadth and in depth the protein profiles of periodontal disease. The so-far collected data highlights the importance of moving away from the concept of a handful of proteins being responsible for the pathogenesis of the disease, and start to accept that there are "signatures" of proteins and associated pathways that lead to this.