Project description:Human gingival epithelial cells (HGEp) and fibroblasts (HGF) are the main cell types of the peri-implant soft-tissue, with HGEp constantly being exposed to bacteria and HGF residing protected in the connective tissue as long as an intact mucosa-implant seal is preserved. Streptococcus oralis belongs to the commensal bacteria, is highly abundant at healthy implant sites, and might exert host modulatory effects on soft-tissue cells as described for other streptococci. Thus, we aimed to investigate the effects of S. oralis biofilm on HGEp as well as HGF. HGEp or HGF were grown on titanium separately and responded to S. oralis biofilm challenge. The cell condition of HGF was dramatically impaired after 4 hours showing a transcriptional inflammatory and stress response. In contrast, S. oralis challenge induced only transcriptional inflammatory response in HGEp with their cell condition remaining unaffected. Subsequently, HGF were susceptible compared to HGEp. The proinflammatory IL-6 was attenuated in HGF and CXCL8 in HGEp indicating a general tissue-protective role of S. oralis, forasmuch as the HGF are not exposed. In conclusion, an intact implant-mucosa interface is a prerequisite so that commensal biofilms can promote homeostasis for tissue protection.
Project description:Investigation of whole genome gene expression level changes in S. pneumoniae KCTC 5080T, S. mitis KCTC 3556T, S. oralis KCTC 13048T, and S. pseudopneumoniae CCUG 49455T. This proves that transcriptional profiling can facilitate in elucidating the genetic distance between closely related strains. A one chip study using total RNA recovered from S. pseudopneumoniae CCUG 49455T with three strain. For the the transcriptome of S. pseudopneumoniae CCUG 49455T was analyzed using the S. pneumoniae R6 microarray platform and compared with those of S. pneumoniae KCTC 5080T, S. mitis KCTC 3556T, and S. oralis KCTC 13048T strains.
Project description:Investigation of whole genome gene expression level changes in S. pneumoniae KCTC 5080T, S. mitis KCTC 3556T, S. oralis KCTC 13048T, and S. pseudopneumoniae CCUG 49455T. This proves that transcriptional profiling can facilitate in elucidating the genetic distance between closely related strains.
Project description:Oral biofilms, comprising hundreds of bacteria and other microorganisms on oral mucosal and dental surfaces, play a central role in oral health and disease dynamics. Streptococcus oralis, a key constituent of these biofilms, contribute significantly to their formation, serving as an early colonizer and microcolony scaffold. The interaction between S. oralis and the orally predominant mucin, MUC5B, is pivotal in biofilm development, yet the mechanism underlying MUC5B degradation remains poorly understood. This study introduces MdpS (Mucin Degrading Protease from Streptococcus oralis), a protease that extensively hydrolyses MUC5B and offers an insight into its sequence homology, physicochemical properties, and substrate- and amino acid specificity. MdpS exhibits high sequence conservation within the species and also explicitly among early biofilm colonizing streptococci. It is characterized as a calcium or magnesium dependent serine protease with strict physicochemical preferences, including narrow pH and temperature tolerance, and high sensitivity to increased sodium chloride and reducing agent concentrations. Furthermore, MdpS primarily hydrolyze proteins with O-glycans, but also show activity towards immunoglobulins IgA1/2 and IgM, suggesting potential immunomodulatory effects. Significantly, MdpS extensively degrades MUC5B in the N- and C-terminal domains, emphasizing its role in mucin degradation with implications in carbon and nitrogen sequestration for S. oralis with a potential function by cross-feeding the oral biofilm. Moreover, the enzyme displays amino acid preferences of serine, threonine or cysteine depending on substrate glycosylation. Understanding the interplay between S. oralis and MUC5B, facilitated by MdpS, has significant implications for the management of a healthy eubiotic oral microenvironment, offering potential targets for interventions aimed at modulating oral biofilm composition and succession. Additionally, the MdpS data challenges the presently acknowledged model of MUC5B degradation, because contrarily MdpS does not necessitate O-glycan removal prior to extensive peptide backbone hydrolysis. These findings emphasize the necessity for further research in this field.
