Expression of NOD1 Protein in Odontoblast Cells upon Stimulation with Lipoteichoic Acid

Introduction: Pathogen recognition receptors are able to identify microbes and their products and play a role in innate immunity. NOD1 has been shown to be present in the odontoblast cells. The present study was conducted with the aim to study the change in expression of NOD1 in odontoblast cells upon stimulation with lipoteichoic acid. Materials and Method: The KN3 cells line was used for the analysis. The study consisted of three groups, the unstimulated cells, KN3 stimulation with 1μg/ml of lipoteichoic acid and KN3 stimulation with 10μg/ml of lipoteichoic acid for 2 hours. Qualitative analysis was done by observing the cells under a phase contrast microscope and quantitative analysis was done by the ELISA test. Results: It was observed that stimulation with LTA increased the expression of NOD1 in odontoblast cells and this expression of NOD1 increased with the increase in the concentration of LTA. The highest expression of NOD1 was observed in the cells that were stimulated with 10μg/ml of LTA for 2 hours (440.8 +/- 66.274). Conclusion: NOD1 expressed in odontoblast cells is capable of recognising lipoteichoic acid. There is a concentration dependent upregulation of NOD1 in odontoblast cells that are stimulated by lipoteichoic acid.