Relationship Between The Differential Expressions Of Sucrose-metabolism Related Genes And Cariogenicity Of S. Mutans

Dental caries continues to pose an important health problem worldwide. Streptococcus mutans (5. mutans) is the principle causative agent of human dental caries. Sugar metabolism, especially that of sucrose, by these organisms is of great significance in cariogenicity. S. mutans hydrolyzes sucrose extracellularly by secreting glucosyltransferases (GTFs) that use sucrose for the formation of colonization-enhancing glucan polymers, while the majority of sucrose is transported into the cell via the phosphoenolpyruvate: sugar phosphotransferase system (PTS) and metabolism by intracellular enzymes. Then during carbohydrate metabolism, the acid products can dissolve the tooth enamel. Hence, GTFs and PTS are considered as two major virulence factors in 5. mutans.The cariogenicity of S. mutans isolates are different, and the variability of cariogenicity in a large group of clinical isolates may be associated with their distinct genotypes, so polymorphism of virulence factors once became the 'hot topic' for researches. But studies found that the polymorphism of virulence factors showed no clear relationships with the cariogenicity of S. mutans, hence it's suggested that the variation of cariogenicity may be associated with the differential expression of virulence factors. So the relationship between the expression of virulence factors and the cariogenicity in different S. mutans...