Cysteine proteases from Porphyromonas gingivalis and TLR ligands synergistically induce the synthesis of the cytokine IL-8 in human artery endothelial cells

These results demonstrated the synergistic effects of TLR ligands and P. gingvalis cysteine proteases for the proinflammatory responses in artery vascular endothelial cells and highlight a mechanism by which bacteria may contribute to the development of atherosclerosis.