Association of salivary bacterial aggregating activity with sulfomucin.
The requirements of human salivary mucins for aggregating potential towards the common cariogenic oral bacteria, S. mutans and S. sanguis, were investigated. Agglutination inhibition assays demonstrated that the aggregating capacity towards bacteria resides in the acidic mucin fraction. The inhibitory activity of the acidic mucin decreased only 2-4-fold following removal of sialic acid, whereas the desulfation caused a complete loss of the inhibitory potential against both bacteria. Furthermore, the aggregating capacity of mucin-derived sulfated oligosaccharide was found to be 16-fold higher than that of the sialic acid containing oligosaccharide. The results point towards the importance of salivary sulfomucins as a predominant factor in the defense of oral cavity against cariogenic bacteria.
Research Center, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Newark 07103-2400.
J
J
Piotrowski
V L
VL
Murty
A
A
Czajkowski
A
A
Slomiany
F
F
Yotsumoto
J
J
Majka
B L
BL
Slomiany
D000328:Adult; D004912:Erythrocytes / Q000187:drug effects / Q000382:microbiology / Q000502:physiology; D006384:Hemagglutination / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D009077:Mucins / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000494:pharmacology*; D012463:Saliva / Q000737:chemistry / Q000502:physiology*; D012794:Sialic Acids; D013295:Streptococcus mutans / Q000187:drug effects / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D013298:Streptococcus sanguis / Q000187:drug effects / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D013361:Sublingual Gland / Q000378:metabolism; D013363:Submandibular Gland / Q000378:metabolism
D009077:Mucins; D012794:Sialic Acids; C012564:sulfomucin