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Adherence of oral microorganisms to human parotid salivary proteins
Author(s) -
Newman Frances,
Beeley Josie A.,
MacFarlane T. Wallace
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
electrophoresis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.666
H-Index - 158
eISSN - 1522-2683
pISSN - 0173-0835
DOI - 10.1002/elps.1150170146
Subject(s) - saliva , salivary proteins , bacteria , polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis , microorganism , microbiology and biotechnology , biology , gel electrophoresis , electroblotting , biochemistry , enzyme , genetics
Bacterial colonisation of oral surfaces by microorganisms may be dependent on their interaction with specific host receptor molecules. Primary oral colonisers are known to remove specific proteins from parotid saliva. The aim of this study was to determine whether these interactions facilitate microbial attachment to a surface and hence identify specific salivary components as putative host receptor molecules. Parotid saliva was resolved by sodium dodecyl sulphate‐polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS‐PAGE) and then electroblotted onto nitrocellulose membranes. Suspensions of fluorescently labelled microoganisms were incubated with the blots and salivary components with adherent bacteria identified as fluorescent bands under ultraviolet (UV) transillumination. Species of streptococci known to be early colonisers of the clean tooth surface were found to adhere specifically to certain salivary proteins, especially to basic proline‐rich proteins (PRPs). Polymorphic variations in these patterns could form the basis of differences in oral microflora, susceptibility to oral infections and consequent disease.