Previously, we showed that human submandibular-sublingual (SMSL) salivas contain one or more proteins, Mr circa 300,000 daltons, which specifically promote adhesion of Streptococcus mutans serotype-c strains to hydroxyapatite. Also, sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) showed that the adhesion-promoting proteins (APPs) exhibit heterogeneity. The aims of the present study were to determine whether APPs are generally present in human SMSL salivary secretions and to characterize the noted heterogeneity. Acid-stimulated SMSL saliva samples were obtained from 54 Japanese subjects, and M, values were obtained by SDS-PAGE. APPs were present in all saliva samples examined, though at significantly different concentrations. The APPs occurred as either single (20 subjects) or double bands (34 subjects), with a mean Mr (88 bands) of 297 kD and a range of 248-338 kD. A plot of the frequency distribution of the APPs according to Mr showed a trimodal distribution, with mean Mr values, standard deviations, and ranges for the three groups being 265 (S.D., 6.9; range, 248-278), 293 (S.D., 6.7; range, 280-305), and 320 (S.D., 7.0; range, 310-338) kD. Variations of Mr within groups may be attributed to experimental variation, although microheterogeneity cannot be excluded. Differences between groups can best be explained in terms of three polymorphic proteins, with low (L), intermediate (I), and high (H) Mr values. Six phenotypes were detected with L, I, H, LI, LH, and IH M r bands. A Hardy-Weinberg analysis showed that the phenotype data fit a single-gene, three-alleles model. The widespread occurrence of the APPs and their potential to modulate colonization of teeth by an oral pathogen suggest that the noted variations in concentrations and phenotypes may be of biological significance.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Appelbaum, B.; Golub, E.; Holt, S.C.; and Rosan, B. (1979): In vitro Studies of Dental Plaque Formation: Adsorption of Oral Streptococci to Hydroxyapatite, Infect Immun25:717-728.
2.
Azen, E.A. (1977): Salivary Peroxidase (SAPX): Genetic Modification and Relationship to the Proline-Rich (Pr) and Acidic (Pa) Proteins, Biochem Genet15:9-29.
3.
Azen, E.A. (1978): Genetic Protein Polymorphisms in Human Saliva : An Interpretive Review, Biochem Genet16:79-99.
4.
Azen, E.A. and Denniston, C.L. (1974): Genetic Polymorphism of Human Salivary Proline-rich Proteins: Further Genetic Analysis, Biochem Genet12:109-120.
5.
Azen, E.A.; Hurley, C.K.; and Denniston, C. (1979): Genetic Polymorphism of the Major Parotid Salivary Glycoprotein (Gl) with Linkage to the Genes for Pr, Db and Pa, Biochem Genet17:257-279.
6.
Azen, E.A. and Maeda, N. (1988): Molecular Genetics of Human Salivary Proteins and their Polymorphisms. In: Advances in Human Genetics, Vol. 17, H. Harris and K. Hirshorn, Eds., New York: Plenum Press, Chapter 5, pp. 141-199.
7.
Azen, E.A. and Oppenheim, F.G. (1973): Genetic Polymorphism of Proline-rich Human Salivary Proteins, Science180:1067-1069.
8.
Babu, J.P. and Dabbous, M.K. (1986): Interaction of Salivary Fibronectin with Oral Streptococci, J Dent Res65:1094-1100.
9.
Babu, J.P.; Simpson, W.A.; Courtney, H.S.; and Beachey, E.H. (1983): Interaction of Human Plasma Fibronectin with Cariogenic and Non-Cariogenic Oral Streptococci, Infect Immun41 :162-168.
10.
Clark, W.B.; Bammann, L.L.; and Gibbons, R.J. (1977): Comparative Estimate of Bacterial Affinities and Adsorption Sites on Hydroxyapatite Surfaces, Infect Immun19:846-853.
11.
Douglas, C.W.I. and Russell, R.R.B. (1984): The Adsorption of Human Salivary Components to Strains of the Bacterium Streptococcus mutans, Arch Oral Biol29:751-757.
12.
Ellen, R.P. (1985): Specificity of Attachment as a Tissue-Tropic Influence of Oral Bacteria. In: Molecular Basis of Oral Microbial Adhesion , S.E. Mergenhagen and B. Rosan, Eds., Washington, DC: Am Soc Microbiol, pp. 33-39.
13.
Ericson, T. (1967): Adsorption to Hydroxyapatite of Proteins and Conjugated Proteins from Human Saliva, Caries Res1:52-58.
14.
Ericson, T. (1968): Salivary Glycoproteins: Composition and Adsorption to Hydroxyapatite in Relation to the Formation of Dental Pellicles and Calculus , Acta Odontol Scand26:3-21.
15.
Ericson, T. and Rundegren, J. (1983): Characterization of a Salivary Agglutinin Reacting with Serotype c Strain of Streptococcus mutans, Eur J Biochem133:255-261.
16.
Gibbons, R.J. (1980): Adhesion of Bacteria to Surfaces in the Mouth . In: Microbial Adhesion to Surfaces, R.C.W. Berkeley, J.M. Lynch, J. Melling, P.R. Rutter , and B. Vincent, Eds., London: Soc. Chem. Industry, pp. 351-388.
17.
Gibbons, R.J.; Cohen, L.; and Hay, D.I. (1986): Strains of Streptococcus mutans and Streptococcus sobrinus Attach to Different Pellicle Receptors, Infect Immun52:555-561.
18.
Gibbons, R.J. and Hay, D.I. (1988): Human Salivary Acidic Proline-rich Proteins and Statherin Promote the Attachment of Actinomyces viscosus LY7 to Apatitic Surfaces , Infect Immun56 :439-445.
19.
Gibbons, R.J.; Moreno, E.C.; and Spinell, D.M. (1976): Model Delineating the Effects of a Salivary Pellicle on the Adsorption of Streptococcus mitior onto Hydroxyapatite, Infect Immun14:1109-1112.
20.
Gibbons, R.J. and Qureshi, J.V. (1978): Selective Binding of Blood Group-reactive Salivary Mucins by Streptococcus mutans and Other Oral Organisms, Infect Immun22:665-671.
21.
Gibbons, R.J. and Spinell, D.M. (1970): Salivary Induced Aggregation of Plaque Bacteria . In: Dental Plaque, W.D. McHugh, Ed., Edinburgh: E. & S. Livingstone, Inc., pp. 207-215.
22.
Gibbons, R.J. and Van Houte, J. (1975): Bacterial Adherence in Oral Microbial Ecology , Ann Rev Microbiol29:19-44.
23.
Gibbons, R.J. and Van Houte, J. (1980): Bacterial Adherence and Formation of Dental Plaques . In: Bacterial Adherence, E.H. Beachey, Ed., London: Chapman and Hall, pp. 61-104.
24.
Hay, D.I. (1967): The Adsorption of Salivary Proteins by Hydroxyapatite and Enamel, Arch Oral Biol12:937-946.
25.
Hay, D.I. (1973): The Interactions of Human Parotid Salivary Proteins with Hydroxyapatite, Arch Oral Biol18:1517-1529.
26.
Hay, D.I.; Gibbons, R.J.; and Spinell, D.M. (1971): Characteristics of some High Molecular Weight Constituents with Bacterial Aggregating Activity from Whole Saliva and Dental Plaque, Caries Res5:111-123.
27.
Hillman, J.D.; Van Houte, J.; and Gibbons, R.J. (1970): Sorption of Bacteria to Human Enamel Powder, Arch Oral Biol15:899-903.
28.
Kishimoto, E.; Hay, D.I.; and Gibbons, R.J. (1989): A Human Salivary Protein Which Promotes Adhesion of Streptococcus mutans Serotype c Strains to Hydroxyapatite, Infect Immun57 :3702-3707.
29.
Laemmli, U.K. (1970): Cleavage of Structural Proteins During the Assembly of the Head of Bacteriophage T4, Nature277:680-685.
30.
Leach, S.A.; Critchley, P.; Kolendo, A.B.; and Saxton, C.A. (1967): Salivary Glycoproteins as Components of the Enamel Integuments, Caries Res1:104-111.
31.
Levine, M.J.; Herzberg, M.C.; Levine, M.S.; Ellison, S.A.; Stinson, M.W.; Li, H.C.; and Van Dyke, T. (1978): Specificity of Salivary-Bacterial Interactions: Role of Terminal Sialic Acid Residues in the Interaction of Salivary Glycoproteins with Streptococcus sanguis and Streptococcus mutans, Infect Immun19:107-115.
32.
Malamud, D.; Christensen, C.M.; Navazesh, M.; and Davis, C. (1988): Bacterial Agglutinin Activity in the Saliva of Human Identical and Fraternal Twins, Arch Oral Biol33:801-805.
33.
Mandel, I.D. (1978): Salivary Factors in Caries Prediction. In: Methods of Caries Prediction, B.G. Bibby and R.J. Shern, Eds., Spec Suppl, Microbial Abstracts, New York and London: Information Retrieval, Inc., pp. 147-158.
34.
McGaughey, C.; Field, B.D.; and Stowell, E.C. (1971): Effects of Salivary Proteins on the Adsorption of Cariogenic Streptococci by Hydroxyapatite, J Dent Res50:917-922.
35.
McGaughey, C. and Stowell, E.C. (1967): The Adsorption of Human Salivary Proteins and Porcine Submaxillary Mucin by Hydroxyapatite, Arch Oral Biol12:815-828.
36.
Merritt, A.D.; Rivas, M.L.; Bixler, D.; and Newell, R. (1973): Salivary (Amy1) and Pancreatic (Amy2) Amylase: Electrophoretic Characterizations and Genetic Studies, Am J Hum Genet25:510-522.
37.
Morrissey, J.H. (1981): Silver Stain for Proteins in Polyacrylamide Gels: A Modified Procedure with Enhanced Uniform Sensitivity, Anal Biochem117:307-310.
38.
Murray, P.A.; Levine, M.J.; Tabak, L.A.; and Reddy, M.S. (1982): Specificity of Salivary-Bacterial Interactions: II. Evidence for a Lectin on Streptococcus sanguis with Specificity for a NeuAc-α-2,3-Gal-β-1,3-GaINAc Sequence, Biochem Biophys Res Commun106:390-396.
39.
Prakobphol, A.; Levine, M.J.; Tabak, L.A.; and Reddy, M.S. (1982): Purification of a Low-Molecular Weight, Mucin-Type Glycoprotein from Human Submandibular-Sublingual Saliva, Carbohyd Res108:111-122.
40.
Pruitt, K.M.; Caldwell, R.C.; Jamieson, A.D.; and Taylor, R.E. (1969): The Interaction of Salivary Proteins with Tooth Surface, J Dent Res48:818-823.
41.
Rolla, G. (1969): The Adsorption of Radioactive Salivary Glycoprotein to Hydroxylapatite in vitro, J Periodont Res4:165-166.
42.
Simpson, W.A.; Courtney, H.S.; and Ofek, I. (1987): Interactions of Fibronectin with Streptococci: The Role of Fibronectin as a Receptor for Streptococcus pyogenes, Rev Infect Dis9 (Suppl. 4): S351-S359.
43.
Slomiany, B.L.; Murty, V.L.N.; Mandel, I.D.; Zalesna, G.; and Slomiany, A. (1989): Physico-chemical Characteristics of Mucus Glycoproteins and Lipids of the Human Oral Mucosal Mucus Coat in Relation to Caries Susceptibility , Arch Oral Biol34:229-237.
44.
Sonju, T. and Rolla, G. (1973): Chemical Analysis of the Acquired Pellicle Formed in Two Hours on Cleaned Human Teeth in vivo, Caries Res7:30-38.
45.
SRB, A.M.; Owen, R.D.; and Edgar, R.S. (1965): General Genetics, 2nd ed., San Francisco: W.H. Freeman & Co., pp. 399-408.
46.
Stinson, M.W.; Levine, M.J.; Cavese, J.M.; Prakobphol, A.; Murray, P.A.; Tabak, L.A.; and Reddy, M.S. (1982): Adherence of Streptococcus sanguis to Salivary Mucin Bound to Glass, J Dent Res61:1390-1393.
47.
Tabak, L.A.; Levine, M.J.; Mandel, I.D.; and Ellison, S.A. (1982): Role of Salivary Mucins in the Protection of the Oral Cavity, J Oral Pathol11:1-17.
48.
Tabak, L.A.; Levine, M.J.; Jain, N.K.; Bryan, A.R.; Cohen, R.E.; Monte, L.D.; Zawacki, S.; Nancollas, G.H.; Slomiany, A.; and Slomiany, B.L. (1985): Adsorption of Human Salivary Mucins to Hydroxyapatite , Arch Oral Biol30 :423-427.
49.
Van Houte, J. (1980): Bacterial Adhesion in the Mouth. In: Dental Plaque and Surface Interactions in the Oral Cavity, S.A. Leach, Ed., London: Information Retrieval, Limited, pp. 69-100.
50.
Ward, J.C.; Merritt, A.D.; and Bixler, D. (1971): Human Salivary Amylase: Genetics of Electrophoretic Variants, Am J Hum Genet23:403-409.
51.
Williams, R.C. and Gibbons, R.J. (1972): Inhibition of Bacterial Adherence by Secretory Immunoglobulin A: A Mechanism of Antigen Disposal, Science177:696-699.
