Project description:Our group recently transcriptomically characterized coculture growth between Streptococcus mutans and several species of commensal streptococci (Rose et al, 2023). However, these experiments were carried out in our lab-based experimental medium, tryptone and yeast extract (TY-). To understand whether culturing these species within a medium that more closely mimics their natural environment alters the interaction, we evaluated both monoculture and coculture growth between the dental caries pathogen Streptococcus mutans and oral commensal species Streptococcus oralis in a half TY- / half human saliva mix that was optimally chosen based on our initial characterization of oral streptococci behaviors in medium mixes containing saliva. Our results surprising show that inclusion of saliva enhances the competition of Streptococcus mutans against commensal streptococci through upregulation of carbohydrate uptake and glycolytic pathways.
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:RNA-Seq was used to compare the transcriptome of Streptococcus mutans UA159 during growth alone in monoculture, in coculture with Streptococcus gordonii DL1, Streptococcus sanguinis SK36 or Streptococcus oralis 34, and in a quadculture containing all four species. Individual cultures of commensal species Streptococcus gordonii DL1, Streptococcus sanguinis SK36 and Streptococcus oralis 34 were sequenced as well. This revealed a common transcriptome pattern in S. mutans when grown in mixed-species culture, indepenedent of the species identity that S. mutans was cultured with. Additionally, transcriptome changes in the commensal species could also be determined when undergoing competition from S. mutans. RNA-Seq was used to compare the transcriptome of Streptococcus mutans UA159 during growth alone in monoculture or in coculture with Streptococcus sobrinus NIDR 6715, Lactobacillus casei ATCC 4646 or Corynebacterium matruchotii ATCC 14266. These data were compared to previous coculture and quadculture RNA-Seq data with commensal streptococci (GSE209925). These data confirmed a common transcriptome pattern in S. mutans when grown in mixed-species culture with commensal streptococci that is not present with non-commensal streptococci, indepenedent of the species identity that S. mutans was cultured with.
Project description:Recent studies have shown phenotypic and metabolic heterogeneity in related species including Streptococcus oralis, a typical oral commensal bacterium, Streptococcus mutans, a cariogenic bacterium, and Streptococcus gordonii, which functions as an accessory pathogen in periodontopathic biofilm. In this study, metabolites characteristically contained in the saliva of individuals with good oral hygiene were determined, after which the effects of an identified prebiotic candidate, D-tagatose, on phenotype, gene expression, and metabolic profiles of those three key bacterial species were investigated. Examinations of the saliva metabolome of 18 systemically healthy volunteers identified salivary D-tagatose as associated with lower dental biofilm abundance in the oral cavity (Spearman’s correlation coefficient; r = -0.603, p = 0.008), then the effects of D-tagatose on oral streptococci were analyzed in vitro. In chemically defined medium (CDM) containing D-tagatose as the sole carbohydrate source, S. mutans and S. gordonii each showed negligible biofilm formation, whereas significant biofilms were formed in cultures of S. oralis. Furthermore, even in the presence of glucose, S. mutans and S. gordonii showed growth suppression and decreases in the final viable cell count in a D-tagatose concentration-dependent manner. In contrast, no inhibitory effects of D-tagatose on the growth of S. oralis were observed. To investigate species-specific inhibition by D-tagatose, the metabolomic profiles of D-tagatose-treated S. mutans, S. gordonii, and S. oralis cells were examined. The intracellular amounts of pyruvate-derived amino acids in S. mutans and S. gordonii, but not in S. oralis, such as branched-chain amino acids and alanine, tended to decrease in the presence of D-tagatose. This phenomenon indicates that D-tagatose inhibits growth of those bacteria by affecting glycolysis and its downstream metabolism. In conclusion, the present study provides evidence that D-tagatose is abundant in saliva of individuals with good oral health. Additionally, experimental results demonstrated that D-tagatose selectively inhibits growth of the oral pathogens S. mutans and S. gordonii. In contrast, the oral commensal S. oralis seemed to be negligibly affected, thus highlighting the potential of administration of D-tagatose as an oral prebiotic for its ability to manipulate the metabolism of those targeted oral streptococci.
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.
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.
Project description:To combat dental implant-associated infections, there is a need for novel materials which effectively inhibit bacterial biofilm formation. In the present study, a titanium surface functionalization based on the “slippery liquid-infused porous surfaces” (SLIPS) principle was analyzed in an oral flow chamber system. The immobilized liquid layer was stable over 13 days of continuous flow. With increasing flow rates, the surface exhibited a significant reduction in attached biofilm of both the oral initial colonizer Streptococcus oralis and an oral multi-species biofilm composed of S. oralis, Actinomyces naeslundii, Veillonella dispar and Porphyromonas gingivalis. Using single cell force spectroscopy, reduced bacterial adhesion forces on the lubricant layer could be measured. Gene expression patterns in biofilms on SLIPS, on control surfaces and planktonic cultures were also compared. For this purpose, the genome of S. oralis strain ATCC® 9811TM was sequenced using PacBio Sequel technology. Even though biofilm cells showed clear changes in gene expression compared to planktonic cells, no differences could be detected between bacteria on SLIPS and on control surfaces. Therefore, it can be concluded that the ability of liquid-infused titanium to repel biofilms is solely due to weakened bacterial adhesion to the underlying liquid interface.
Project description:The mechanisms through which oral commensal bacteria mitigates uncontrolled inflammatory responses in the oral mucosa remain unknown. Here we evaluated the ability of S. gordonii to stimulate the expression of miRNAs in oral epithelial cells with potential to target chemokine expression. The human oral epithelial cell line (OKF6) was exposed to different MOIs of S. gordonii for 24h and expression analysis of miRNAs performed using the Affymetrix platform.
Project description:Our group recently transcriptomically characterized coculture growth between Streptococcus mutans and several species of commensal streptococci (Rose et al, 2023; Choi et al 2024). One interaction that stood out was with Streptococcus mitis ATCC 49456, which completely inhibited the growth of S. mutans during biofilm formation. This is due to abudant hydrogen peroxide production by S. mitis ATCC 49456, 3-5x higher than other oral commensal streptococci we have worked with. To understand how the transcriptome of S. mutans is modified in coculture with a high hydrogen peroxide producer, we evaluated the transcriptome during monoculture or coculture growth between the two strains. Our results show differential gene expression (DEGs) in S. mutans that follows other trends we have documented previously with other commensal Streptococcus species, as well as DEGs specific to the interaction with S. mitis.
Project description:We use high-throughput sequencing to profile the response of oral commensal pathogen Streptococcus mutans to mucins protein polymers (human MUC5B mucins) and soluble mucin glycans (human MUC5B glycans and porcine MUC5AC glycans). We find that mucins and their glycans alter the regulation of dozens of S. mutans genes, specifically downregulating competence-associated quorum sensing genes. The transcriptional responses induced by MUC5B mucins, MUC5B glycans, and MUC5AC glycans are highly correlated.