ANTIGEN I/II INTERACTIONS WITH SALIVARY GLYCOPROTEINS

链球菌是微生物生物膜的重要组成部分 它存在于口腔组织的表面，并密切地 参与管理建立、增长的动态过程 以及对这种生物膜的控制。它们与唾液蛋白的相互作用 对于启动口腔组织的细菌定植和 它们随后与其他口腔微生物的相互作用有助于 斑块成熟。这些反应中的许多都是由一个家庭调节的 相关的链球菌蛋白统称为抗原I/II 多肽。然而，定义抗原I/II的机制 口腔和口腔中与人体和细菌成分的相互作用 它们之间的关系和对口腔疾病的贡献还不完全 明白了。这项提案的目标是了解 不同物种口腔组织中抗原I/II蛋白的功能差异 链球菌，抗原I/II多肽的结构如何 影响其功能，以及抗原的结构和活性如何 I/II蛋白受口腔环境的影响。要实现这些目标 目标，首席调查员将确定是否表达 链球菌的多重抗原I/II蛋白导致更紧密的 口腔组织这些生物与口腔组织的结合他将会关联到 不同抗原I/II蛋白的特异性结构特征 以及它们的功能。此外，还建议进行研究以确定 如果抗原I/II起到二聚体的作用，如果 口腔通过影响稳定性来影响抗原I/II的功能 二聚体界面的。对抗原I/II如何 有助于口腔微生物生物膜的形成和生长 将有助于更好地理解病原体是如何成为 在口腔中的建立和如何微小的结构差异 发生在相关蛋白质组中会极大地影响其 功能。最后，理解高阶结构 抗原I/II蛋白可能导致广谱疾病的发生 通过破坏特定蛋白质发挥作用的抗菌剂- 蛋白质的相互作用。

Streptococci are important integral components of the microbial biofilm that is present on the surface of oral tissues and are intimately involved in the dynamic processes that govern the establishment, growth and control of this biofilm. Their interactions with salivary proteins are important for initiating bacterial colonization of oral tissues and their subsequent interactions with other oral microbes contribute to the maturation of plaque. Many of these reactions are mediated by a family of related streptococcal proteins collectively known as the antigen I/II polypeptides. However, the mechanisms defining antigen I/II interactions with human and bacterial components in the oral cavity and their relationships and contributions to oral diseases are not fully understood. The goals of this proposal are to understand how the function of antigen I/II proteins differ among species of oral streptococci, how the structure of the antigen I/II polypeptide influences its function, and how the structure and activities of antigen I/II proteins are affected by the oral environment. To accomplish these goals, the Principal Investigator will determine if the expression of multiple antigen I/II proteins by streptococci results in a tighter association of these organisms with oral tissues. He will correlate specific structural characteristics of different antigen I/II proteins with their functions. In addition, studies are proposed to determine if antigen I/II functions as a dimer and if the environment within the oral cavity affects antigen I/II function by influencing the stability of the dimer interface. An understanding of how antigen I/II contributes to the initiation and growth of the oral microbial biofilm will lead to a better understanding of how pathogenic organisms become established in the oral cavity and how minor structural differences that occur within related groups of proteins can dramatically influence their function. Finally, understanding the higher order structure of the antigen I/II proteins may lead to the development of broad spectrum anti-microbial agents that function by disrupting specific protein- protein interactions.