Biology of Streptococcus mutans-Derived Glucosyltransferases: Role in Extracellular Matrix Formation of Cariogenic Biofilms
By W. Bowen, H. Koo. Caries Research, 2011
1,031 citations recorded by the source corpus.
The importance of Streptococcus mutans in the etiology and pathogenesis of dental caries is certainly controversial, in part because excessive attention is paid to the numbers of S. mutans and acid production while the matrix within dental plaque has been neglected. S. mutans does not always dominate within plaque; many organisms are equally acidogenic and aciduric. It is also recognized that glucosyltransferases from S. mutans (Gtfs) play critical roles in the development of virulent dental plaque. Gtfs adsorb to enamel synthesizing glucans in situ, providing sites for avid colonization by microorganisms and an insoluble matrix for plaque. Gtfs also adsorb to surfaces of other oral microorganisms converting them to glucan producers. S. mutans expresses 3 genetically distinct Gtfs; each appears to play a different but overlapping role in the formation of virulent plaque. GtfC is adsorbed to enamel within pellicle whereas GtfB binds avidly to bacteria promoting tight cell clustering, and enhancing cohesion of plaque. GtfD forms a soluble, readily metabolizable polysaccharide and acts as a primer for GtfB. The behavior of soluble Gtfs does not mirror that observed with surface-adsorbed enzymes. Furthermore, the structure of polysaccharide matrix changes over time as a result of the action of mutanases and dextranases within plaque. Gtfs at distinct loci offer chemotherapeutic targets to prevent caries. Nevertheless, agents that inhibit Gtfs in solution frequently have a reduced or no effect on adsorbed enzymes. Clearly, conformational changes and reactions of Gtfs on surfaces are complex and modulate the pathogenesis of dental caries in situ, deserving further investigation.
Subfields: Oral Surgery, Periodontics, Rheumatology
View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/f5b315281f7c7458b9e3bd6a7dbe07f9306d9d7f
How researchers see this paper
The researchers whose trusted networks rank it highest, strongest advocate first. Every researcher gets a different order.
In Oral Surgery
In Periodontics
Citations in the corpus
- Oral Biofilms: Pathogens, Matrix and Polymicrobial Interactions in Microenvironments (2017, background): “However, the EPS matrix can be constantly remodeled locally through the actions of dextranases, DNAses, and proteolytic enzymes dynamically altering the mechanical properties and/or exposing new binding sites to additional microorganisms that were unavailable during biofilm initiation [20].”
- The Biology of Streptococcus mutans (2019, background): “mutans has evolved multiple pathways to catabolize sucrose for acid production (31), and several glycosyltransferease enzymes (Gtfs) convert sucrose into a glue-like extracellular polymer glucan that promotes the buildup of biofilms by way of cellular attachment to dental surfaces and other oral mic”