Salivary histatin as an inhibitor of a protease produced by the oral bacterium Bacteroides gingivalis.
We examined the effect of histatin 5 from human parotid saliva on various proteases. Histatin 5 strongly inhibited a trypsin-like protease produced by Bacteroides gingivalis with an IC50 value of 55 nM. Clostripain was also inhibited (IC50 = 800 nM). Activities of other proteases were not affected significantly. Because B. gingivalis is a suspected periodontal pathogen and its proteolytic enzymes have been considered to be associated with periodontal tissue destruction, it is suggested that salivary histatins play a role as a preventive against periodontal disease.
Nishikata
M
M
Central Research Division, School of Dentistry, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan.
Kanehira
T
T
Oh
H
H
Tani
H
H
Tazaki
M
M
Kuboki
Y
Y
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001439:Bacteroides / Q000201:enzymology*; D010450:Endopeptidases / Q000378:metabolism*; D054808:Histatins; D006801:Humans; D007700:Kinetics; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011480:Protease Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology*; D012463:Saliva / Q000737:chemistry; D012471:Salivary Proteins and Peptides / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology*
C068075:HTN3 protein, human; D054808:Histatins; D011480:Protease Inhibitors; D012471:Salivary Proteins and Peptides; D010450:Endopeptidases