Distinct immune landscapes between murine and human periodontitis

Area of Science:

• Immunology
• Oral Biology
• Translational Medicine

Background:

• Periodontitis (PD) is a prevalent global disease requiring accurate animal models.
• Current murine models may not fully recapitulate human immune responses in PD.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare single-cell immune landscapes in human PD versus murine ligature models.
• To assess if Porphyromonas gingivalis (Pg) supplementation enhances the translatability of murine PD models.

Main Methods:

• Single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) of murine gingival tissues (ligature, ligature+Pg, control).
• Integration of murine scRNA-seq data with existing human PD single-cell data.
• Comparative analysis of immune cell proportions and activation states.

Main Results:

• Murine models exhibited significantly lower B/plasma cell proportions (0.10% vs. 22.39%) and attenuated activation compared to human PD.
• Macrophages showed significantly greater changes (28.53% vs. -6.603%) and hyperactivation in murine models.
• Porphyromonas gingivalis supplementation did not reduce immunological disparities between murine models and human PD.

Conclusions:

• Significant immunological differences exist between murine ligature models and human periodontitis.
• Caution is advised when using current murine models to study immune interactions in human PD.
• Further refinement of animal models is needed for accurate translation of PD research.