Fig. 1

P. gingivalis infection triggered excessive mitochondrial fragmentation in endothelial cells. EA.hy926 cells were exposed to P. gingivalis for the indicated amounts of time (MOI = 100). Cells cultured without P. gingivalis were used as a control. a Mitochondrial morphology was visualized by transmission electron microscopy. Scale bars: 1 µm. Arrow, P. gingivalis. Arrowhead, mitochondria. b Cells were treated with P. gingivalis for 6 h. Mitochondria were labeled with MitoTracker Red CMXRos staining and observed under confocal laser scanning microscopy. Scale bars: 20 µm. c Mitochondrial length was measured by MitoTracker Red. d The average aspect ratio (AR, major/minor axis of an ellipse) and e form factor (FF, perimeter²/4π∙area) of the mitochondria labeled with MitoTracker Red were measured. Smaller mitochondrial length, AR, and FF values represent increased mitochondrial fragmentation. The average length, AR, and FF values were calculated from three images per experiment. The experiments were conducted three times, and the data are presented as the means ± SDs. *P < 0.05 versus the control