1991 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
Cloning the genes for Streptococcus mutans-specific antigens
| Project/Area Number |
01571020
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for General Scientific Research (C)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Research Field |
Functional basic dentistry
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| Research Institution | The University of Tokushima |
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Principal Investigator |
FUKUI Komei The University of Tokushima, School of Dentistry, Professor., 歯学部, 教授 (40035407)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
HIROTA Katsuhiko The University of Tokushima, School of Dentistry, Research Associate., 歯学部, 助手 (60199130)
KEMOTO Ken The University of Tokushima, School of Dentistry, Research Associate., 歯学部, 助手 (10218274)
NAGAMUNE Hideaki The University of Tokushima, School of Engineering, Research Associate., 工学部, 助手 (40189163)
OTA Fusao The University of Tokushima, School of Medicine, Professor., 医学部, 教授 (90035478)
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| Project Period (FY) |
1989 – 1991
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| Keywords | dental caries / Streptococcus mutans / Antigen I / II / monoclonal antibodies |
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| Research Abstract |
Mutans group streptococci, specifically, Streptococcus mutans has been implicated as the primary etiologic bacteria in dental caries. Related to the development of a caries vaccine, we have attempted to clone the genes for S. mutans-specific antigens.
Monoclonal antibodies reacting only with Streptococcus mutans were isolated and were used as probes in the cloning of the gene encoding for the species-specific antigens. Mice were immunized with whole cells of a S. mutans serotype c strain and spleen cells from these were fused with myeloma cells. Hybridomas producing, -antibodies were selected and assayed through EIA. One of them, MAb 516 reacted only with serotype c cells of S. mutans. The determinant recognized by MAb 516 was analyzed in immunoblot and was found to be located on the surface protein Ag I/II. Another monoclonal antibody, MAb 498 not only reacted with Ag I/II of serotype c but also reacted with analogous surface antigens in other serotypes. No serotype c-specific monoclonal antibody has yet been reported in literature. As serotypecis the most frequently isolated bacteria from human dental caries, MAb 516 is important for the understanding of this serotype's virulence factors and potentially useful for the development of a specific caries vaccine.
We are currently characterizing the serotype c-specific region on Ag I/II protein by cloning the corresponding gene in the gene library of S. mutans using MAb 516 as a probe.
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