Figure 9
Effect of peptides on the membrane of P. gingivalis. (a) Amino acid sequence of full-length SCPPPQ1 and the corresponding five peptides generated. Peptide names are derived from the amino acid position in the full-length protein and are indicated in superscript. The dotted line represents the smallest peptide created. (b) SEM micrographs showing bacteria from the negative control, + peptide22–42, and + peptide34–41 treated samples at 2 h. Micrographs are representative from five different experiments. (c,d) Quantification of the number bacteria with damaged membrane in percentage from the negative control and + peptides treated samples. Two peptides were synthesized in which two arginines were added on the C-terminal end; these are referred to as peptide22-41RR and peptide34-41RR. Data are represented as mean ± standard error of mean (n = 5). Significance was determined by two-tailed Student’s t test analysis (ns: p > 0.05; *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; ***p < 0.001).
