Structure-Activity Relationships of the Competence Stimulating Peptide in Streptococcus mutans Reveal Motifs Critical for Membrane Protease SepM Recognition and ComD Receptor Activation.

ABSTRACT: Streptococcus mutans ( S. mutans) is a Gram-positive human pathogen that is one of the major contributors to dental caries, a condition with an economic cost of over $100 billion per year in the United States. S. mutans secretes a 21-amino-acid peptide termed the competence stimulating peptide (21-CSP) to assess its population density in a process termed quorum sensing (QS) and to initiate a variety of phenotypes such as biofilm formation and bacteriocin production. 21-CSP is processed by a membrane bound protease SepM into active 18-CSP, which then binds to the ComD receptor. This study seeks to determine the molecular mechanism that ties 21-CSP:SepM recognition and 18-CSP:ComD receptor binding and to identify QS modulators with distinct activity profiles. To this end, we conducted system

SUBMITTER: Bikash CR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6138527 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature