Structural confirmation of the dihydrosphinganine and fatty acid constituents of the dental pathogen Porphyromonas gingivalis

Porphyromonas gingivalis, a recognized periodontal pathogen, is a source of sphinganine bases, fatty acids, free ceramides as well as complex lipids that potentiate interleukin-1b-mediated secretory responses in gingival fibroblasts. The purpose of this study is the structural verification of the sphinganine bases and fatty acids that had been proposed as major components of the complex lipids found in P. gingivalis. The putative C17, C18, and C19 sphinganine bases were prepared from Garner's aldehyde (1) or from a protected serine Weinreb's amide (2). We confirmed that isobranched sphinganine bases are the major structural feature of the ceramides observed from P. gingivalis. We also prepared a C17 unsaturated fatty acid, along with an isobranched C17 3-hydroxy fatty acid, and determined that the major component of the active lipids was the latter.