The discovery of molecules that inhibit oral biofilm formation by inhibiting cell-to-cell communication

我们最初通过修改自诱导物-2（AI-2）的化学结构来产生几种类似物。我们研究了这些类似物的抑制活性，通过研究哈维氏弧菌，一种发光的海洋细菌物种的发光活性。在合成的类似物中，我们选择了那些抑制哈维氏弧菌发光活性的类似物。使用选定的类似物，我们分析了这些类似物对口腔链球菌，包括变形链球菌，人类致龋物种的生物膜形成的抑制作用。一些类似物抑制这些细菌的生物膜形成，尽管一些抑制S.变形链球菌不抑制其它链球菌的生物膜形成。我们无法找到一种针对所有口腔链球菌的共同抑制剂。现在，我们正在分析这些类似物在变形链球菌葡糖基转移酶（GTF）基因表达中的作用及其在变形链球菌生物膜形成中的功能。

We initially produced several analogues by modifying the chemical structures of autoinducer-2 (AI-2). We examined the inhibitory activities of these analogues by examining the luminescence activities of Vibrio harveyi, a luminescent marine bacterium species. Of the analogues synthesized, we chose those that inhibited the luminescence activities of V.harveyi. Using the selected analogues, we analyzed the inhibitory effects of these analogues on biofilm formation by oral streptococci, including Streptococcus mutans, a human cariogenic species. Some of the analogues inhibited biofilm formation by these bacteria, although some of the analogues that inhibited biofilm formation by S. mutans did not inhibit biofilm formation by other streptococci. We could not find a common inhibitor for all oral streptococci. Now we are analyzing the role of these analogues in the expression of S.mutans glucosyltransferase (GTF) genes and their function in biofilm formation by S.mutans.