(IMAGE)

Tokyo Medical and Dental University

Caption

Researchers unveil mechanism by which periodontal bacterium A. actinomycetemcomitans exacerbated symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) conducted various experiments in a mouse model of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). They investigated the molecular-level effects of infection with the periodontal pathogen A. actinomycetemcomitans, and found that caspase-11 plays a key role in the exacerbation of RA, as mice deficient in this protein exhibited much milder symptoms.

Credit

Department of Bacterial Pathogenesis, Infection and Host Response, TMDU

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