Pili of oral Streptococcus sanguinis bind to fibronectin and contribute to cell adhesion

Streptococcus sanguinis is a predominant bacterium in the human oral cavity and occasionally causes infective endocarditis. We identified a unique cell surface polymeric structure named pili in this species and investigated its functions in regard to its potential virulence. Pili of S. sanguinis str...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Biochemical and biophysical research communications 2010-01, Vol.391 (2), p.1192-1196
Main Authors: Okahashi, Nobuo, Nakata, Masanobu, Sakurai, Atsuo, Terao, Yutaka, Hoshino, Tomonori, Yamaguchi, Masaya, Isoda, Ryutaro, Sumitomo, Tomoko, Nakano, Kazuhiko, Kawabata, Shigetada, Ooshima, Takashi
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Bacterial Adhesion
Bacterial Proteins - genetics
Bacterial Proteins - metabolism
Fibronectin binding
Fibronectins - blood
Fibronectins - metabolism
Fimbriae, Bacterial - genetics
Fimbriae, Bacterial - metabolism
Humans
Mouth - microbiology
Pili
Streptococcus sanguinis
Streptococcus sanguis - genetics
Streptococcus sanguis - metabolism
Streptococcus sanguis - pathogenicity
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Summary:Streptococcus sanguinis is a predominant bacterium in the human oral cavity and occasionally causes infective endocarditis. We identified a unique cell surface polymeric structure named pili in this species and investigated its functions in regard to its potential virulence. Pili of S. sanguinis strain SK36 were shown to be composed of three distinctive pilus proteins (PilA, PilB, and PilC), and a pili-deficient mutant demonstrated reduced bacterial adherence to HeLa and human oral epithelial cells. PilC showed a binding ability to fibronectin, suggesting that pili are involved in colonization by this species. In addition, ATCC10556, a standard S. sanguinis strain, was unable to produce pili due to defective pilus genes, which indicates a diversity of pilus expression among various S. sanguinis strains.
ISSN:0006-291X
1090-2104
DOI:10.1016/j.bbrc.2009.12.029