Dr Aleksander Grabiec from the Department of Microbiology of the JU Faculty of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Biotechnology has been awarded with a nearly 2 million PLN grant in the FIRST TEAM programme, introduced by the Foundation for Polish Science to fund first research teams led by PhDs at the early stage of their careers. Dr Grabiec's project is entitled Epigenetics of periodontitis: DNA methylation in desease development and as a potential therapeutic target.
The study will be conducted in collaboration with Prof. Denis Kinane (Department of Periodontics, School of Dental Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA) and Dr Tomasz Kaczmarczyk (Institute of Dentistry, Jagiellonian University Medical College).
According to the project's description, periodontitis is a bacterially induced chronic inflammatory disease of the periodontium which leads to the destruction of the tooth-supporting tissues. Epigenetic changes in DNA methylation play an important role in the control of immune responses, but little is known about the effects of oral pathogens on DNA methylation in host cells. In this project, the author will combine analyses of gingival tissue from periodontitis patients with in vitro studies of primary gingival cells infected with Porphyromonas gingivalis. He hypothesises that oral pathogens induce long-lasting changes in DNA methylation in gingival cells which facilitate subversion of the host immune response and contribute to the chronicity of inflammation in periodontitis. Addressing the hypothesis will allow for to comprehensive mapping of alterations in DNA methylation, alongside their underlying molecular drivers, and will be an important step in identifying new therapeutic strategies to reduce the significant morbidity of periodontitis.
For more information about the FIRST TEAM programme, please visit its official website.
