Dr Paul Veith
CONTACT
E-mail: pdv@unimelb.edu.au
Telephone: +61 3 8344 2561
QUALIFICATIONS
- BSc (Hons): University of Melbourne, School of Biochemistry
- PhD: University of Melbourne, Melbourne Dental School
RESEARCH INTERESTS
- Protein secretion in pathogenic bacteria
Chronic periodontitis (gum disease) is associated with specific bacterial pathogens such as Porphyromonas gingivalis, Treponema denticola, and Tannerella forsythia. P. gingivalis is the most important of these and produces large quantities of proteases (called gingipains) that are essential for the ability of this pathogen to cause disease. Our recent data indicates that these gingipains are located on the outside of the cell within a special surface layer that can be seen by electron microscopy (EM). We are intensively studying the secretion system responsible for transporting these gingipains across the outer membrane and incorporating them into this surface layer. This secretion system is newly discovered and seems to be conserved in the bacteroidetes phylum and therefore linked to a variety of diseases and environmental issues. We use a range of techniques including mass spectrometry, EM, cell fractionation, native and 2D electrophoresis, protein expression, mutant generation, bioinformatics, etc in order to identify the components of this novel secretion system and to determine the role of each component in the secretion mechanism. Please refer to Chen et al., 2011 (below) as a sample of our work in this exciting area.
- Proteomics / Mass Spectrometry
We have our own well-established proteomics laboratory located in the Bio21 Institute that comprises MALDI-TOF/TOF and Ion Trap mass spectrometers, sample preparation robots, 2D electrophoresis equipment, fluorescent scanner, & in-house proteomics servers (Mascot, Proteinscape). Protein identification projects we have conducted include studies of all three periodontopathogens (Veith et al., 2002; Veith et al., 2009a; Veith et al., 2009b). Apart from having a high capability for all our protein identification needs, we have conducted several quantitative analyses in order to determine how P. gingivalis adapts to various growth conditions, such as iron (haem) limitation (Dashper et al., 2009), biofilm formation (Ang et al., 2008) and currently, the formation of synergistic biofilms with T. denticola and T. forsythia (see also Bacterial Ecology). The proteins that have changed in abundance reveal potential nutritional synergies and other fascinating adaptions to growth in this polymicrobial biofilm.
- Bacterial Ecology
The oral cavity is home to many hundreds of bacterial species in both health and disease. The transition from health to disease may in many cases be due to a perturbation in the balance of these species, therefore the study of how these species interrelate may provide substantial insight into the species and conditions that promote or inhibit the proliferation of pathogens, and therefore the onset of disease. We have developed fermentors that allow the growth of polymicrobial biofilms, as well as tools to quantitate the various species present, analyse the composition and structure of the biofilm formed (by both confocal laser scanning microscopy and various EM techniques), and quantitate the proteins produced. This is a new area that promises to deliver fascinating insights into the spatial and temporal developments of polymicrobial communities relevant to oral diseases, and to learn how to favour the non-pathogenic organisms and inhibit the pathogenic ones.
CURRENT RESEARCH PROJECTS
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A range of projects within the broad topics above can be tailored to suit prospective Honours, Masters, or PhD students. Please contact me to discuss your interests.
CURRENT PUBLICATIONS
- Veith PD, Talbo GH, Slakeski N and Reynolds EC (2001). Identification of a novel heterodimeric outer membrane protein of Porphyromonas gingivalis by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and peptide mass fingerprinting. Eur J Biochem 268(17): 4748-57.
- Veith PD, Talbo GH, Slakeski N, Dashper SG, Moore C, Paolini RA and Reynolds EC (2002). Major outer membrane proteins and proteolytic processing of RgpA and Kgp of Porphyromonas gingivalis W50. Biochem J 363(Pt 1): 105-15.
- O'Brien-Simpson NM, Veith PD, Dashper SG and Reynolds EC (2003). Porphyromonas gingivalis gingipains: The molecular teeth of a microbial vampire. Current Protein & Peptide Science 4(6): 409-426. <<Review>>
- O'Brien-Simpson NM, Veith PD, Dashper SG and Reynolds EC (2004). Antigens of bacteria associated with periodontitis. Periodontol 2000 35: 101-34. <<Review>>
- Veith PD, Chen YY and Reynolds EC (2004). Porphyromonas gingivalis RgpA and Kgp proteinases and adhesins are C terminally processed by the carboxypeptidase CPG70. Infect Immun 72(6): 3655-57.
- Veith PD and Reynolds EC (2004). Production of a high gel strength whey protein concentrate from cheese whey. J Dairy Sci 87(4): 831-40.
- Dashper SG, Butler CA, Lissel JP, Paolini RA, Hoffmann B, Veith PD, O'Brien-Simpson NM, Snelgrove SL, Tsiros JT and Reynolds EC (2005). A novel Porphyromonas gingivalis FeoB plays a role in manganese accumulation. J Biol Chem 280(30): 28095-102.
- Huq NL, Loganathan A, Cross KJ, Chen YY, Johnson NI, Willetts M, Veith PD and Reynolds EC (2005). Association of bovine dentine phosphophoryn with collagen fragments. Arch Oral Biol 50(9): 807-19
- O'Brien-Simpson NM, Pathirana RD, Paolini RA, Chen YY, Veith PD, Tam V, Ally N, Pike RN and Reynolds EC (2005). An immune response directed to proteinase and adhesin functional epitopes protects against Porphyromonas gingivalis-induced periodontal bone loss. J Immunol 175(6): 3980-9.
- Sato K, Sakai E, Veith PD, Shoji M, Kikuchi Y, Yukitake H, Ohara N, Naito M, Okamoto K, Reynolds EC and Nakayama K (2005). Identification of a new membrane-associated protein that influences transport/maturation of gingipains and adhesins of Porphyromonas gingivalis. J Biol Chem 280(10): 8668-77.
- Frazer LT, O'Brien-Simpson NM, Slakeski N, Walsh KA, Veith PD, Chen CG, Barr IG and Reynolds EC (2006). Vaccination with recombinant adhesins from the RgpA-Kgp proteinase-adhesin complex protects against Porphyromonas gingivalis infection. Vaccine 24(42-43): 6542-54.
- Mangum JE, Veith PD, Reynolds EC and Hubbard MJ (2006). Towards second-generation proteome analysis of murine enamel-forming cells. Eur J Oral Sci 114 Suppl 1: 259-65; discussion 285-6, 382.
- Pathirana RD, O'Brien-Simpson NM, Veith PD, Riley PF and Reynolds EC (2006). Characterization of proteinase-adhesin complexes of Porphyromonas gingivalis. Microbiology 152(Pt 8): 2381-94.
- Seers CA, Slakeski N, Veith PD, Nikolof T, Chen YY, Dashper SG and Reynolds EC (2006). The RgpB C-terminal domain has a role in attachment of RgpB to the outer membrane and belongs to a novel C-terminal-domain family found in Porphyromonas gingivalis. J Bacteriol 188(17): 6376-86.
- Huq NL, Cross KJ, Ung M, Myroforidis H, Veith PD, Chen D, Stanton D, He H, Ward BR and Reynolds EC (2007). A review of the salivary proteome and peptidome and saliva-derived peptide therapeutics. International Journal of Peptide Research and Therapeutics 13(4): 547-564.
- Ang CS, Veith PD, Dashper SG and Reynolds EC (2008). Application of (16)O/(18)O reverse proteolytic labeling to determine the effect of biofilm culture on the cell envelope proteome of Porphyromonas gingivalis W50. Proteomics 8(8): 1645-1660.
- Dashper SG, Ang CS, Veith PD, Mitchell HL, Lo AW, Seers CA, Walsh KA, Slakeski N, Chen D, Lissel JP, Butler CA, O'Brien-Simpson NM, Barr IG, Reynolds EC. (2009). Response of Porphyromonas gingivalis to heme limitation in continuous culture. J Bacteriol. 191(3):1044-55.
- Veith PD, Dashper SG, O'Brien-Simpson NM, Paolini RA, Orth R, Walsh KA, Reynolds EC (2009). Major proteins and antigens of Treponema denticola. Biochim Biophys Acta. 1794:1421-1432
- Veith PD, O'Brien-Simpson NM, Tan Y, Djatmiko DC, Dashper SG, Reynolds EC (2009). Outer Membrane Proteome and Antigens of Tannerella forsythia. J Proteome Res. 8:4279-92
- Dashper S, Ang CS, Liu SW, Paolini R, Veith P, Reynolds E (2010). Inhibition of Porphyromonas gingivalis biofilm by oxantel. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 54:1311-14
- Ngo LH, Veith PD, Chen YY, Chen D, Darby IB, Reynolds EC (2010). Mass spectrometric analyses of peptides and proteins in human gingival crevicular fluid. J Proteome Res. 9:1683-93
- Bailey MJ, Lacey DC, de Kok BV, Veith PD, Reynolds EC, Hamilton JA (2011). Extracellular proteomes of M-CSF (CSF-1) and GM-CSF-dependent macrophages. Immunol Cell Biol 89:283- 93
- Slakeski N, Seers CA, Ng K, Moore C, Cleal SM, Veith PD, Lo AW, Reynolds EC.(2011) The C-terminal domain residues important for the secretion and attachment of RgpB in Porphyromonas gingivalis. J Bacteriol. 193:132-42
- Chen YY, Peng B, Yang Q, Glew MD, Veith PD, Cross KJ, Goldie KN, Chen D, O'Brien-Simpson N, Dashper SG, Reynolds EC.(2011). The outer membrane protein LptO is essential for the O-deacylation of LPS and the co-ordinated secretion and attachment of A-LPS and CTD proteins in Porphyromonas gingivalis. Mol Microbiol. 79:1380-401