Construction of a New Fusion Anti-caries DNA Vaccine

Mutans streptococci (MS) are generally considered to be the principal etiological agent of dental caries. MS have two important virulence factors: cell- surface protein PAc and glucosyltransferases (GTFs). GTFs have two functional domains: an N-terminal catalytic sucrose-binding domain (CAT) and a C-terminal glucan-binding domain (GLU). A fusion anti-caries DNA vaccine, pGJA-P/VAX, encoding two important antigenic domains, PAc and GLU, of S. mutans, was successful in reducing the levels of dental caries caused by S. mutans in gnotobiotic animals. However, its protective effect against S. sobrinus infection proved to be weak. Does the DNA vaccine need an antigen of S. sobrinus to enhance its ability to inhibit infection? To answer this question, in this study, we cloned the catalytic ( cat) fragment of S. sobrinus gtf-I, which demonstrated its ability to inhibit water-insoluble glucan synthesis by S. sobrinus, into pGJA-P/VAX to produce a new anti-caries DNA vaccine.

Role of the Two Catalytic Domains of DSR-E Dextransucrase and Their Involvement in the Formation of Highly α-1,2 Branched Dextran

ABSTRACT The dsrE gene from Leuconostoc mesenteroides NRRL B-1299 was shown to encode a very large protein with two potentially active catalytic domains (CD1 and CD2) separated by a glucan binding domain (GBD). From sequence analysis, DSR-E was classified in glucoside hydrolase family 70, where it is the only enzyme to have two catalytic domains. The recombinant protein DSR-E synthesizes both α-1,6 and α-1,2 glucosidic linkages in transglucosylation reactions using sucrose as the donor and maltose as the acceptor. To investigate the specific roles of CD1 and CD2 in the catalytic mechanism, truncated forms of dsrE were cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli. Gene products were then small-scale purified to isolate the various corresponding enzymes. Dextran and oligosaccharide syntheses were performed. Structural characterization by 13C nuclear magnetic resonance and/or high-performance liquid chromatography showed that enzymes devoid of CD2 synthesized products containing only α-1,6 linkages. On the other hand, enzymes devoid of CD1 modified α-1,6 linear oligosaccharides and dextran acceptors through the formation of α-1,2 linkages. Therefore, each domain is highly regiospecific, CD1 being specific for the synthesis of α-1,6 glucosidic bonds and CD2 only catalyzing the formation of α-1,2 linkages. This finding permitted us to elucidate the mechanism of α-1,2 branching formation and to engineer a novel transglucosidase specific for the formation of α-1,2 linkages. This enzyme will be very useful to control the rate of α-1,2 linkage synthesis in dextran or oligosaccharide production.

Molecular Characterization of Inulosucrase from Leuconostoc citreum: a Fructosyltransferase within a Glucosyltransferase

ABSTRACT The gene coding for inulosucrase in Leuconostoc citreum CW28, islA, was cloned, sequenced, and expressed in Escherichia coli. The recombinant enzyme catalyzed inulin synthesis from sucrose like the wild-type enzyme. Inulosucrase presents an unusual structure: its N-terminal region is similar to the variable region of glucosyltransferases, its catalytic domain is similar to fructosyltransferases from various microorganisms, and its C-terminal domain presents similarity to the glucan binding domain from alternansucrase, a glucosyltransferase from Leuconostoc mesenteroides NRRL B-1355. From sequence comparison, it was found that this fructosyltransferase is a natural chimeric enzyme resulting from the substitution of the catalytic domain of alternansucrase by a fructosyltransferase. Two different forms of the islA gene truncated in the C-terminal glucan binding domain were successfully expressed in E. coli and retained their ability to synthesize inulin but lost thermal stability. This is the first report of an inulosucrase bearing structural features of both glucosyltransferases and fructosyltransferases.

Passive Immunization with Bovine Milk Containing Antibodies to a Cell Surface Protein Antigen-Glucosyltransferase Fusion Protein Protects Rats against Dental Caries

ABSTRACT Cell surface protein antigen (PAc) and glucosyltransferases (GTF) of Streptococcus mutans are major colonization factors of the organism. We prepared bovine milk containing antibodies against a fusion of the saliva-binding alanine-rich region of PAc with the glucan-binding domain of GTF-I. This study examined the effect of the immune milk on the cariogenicity of S. mutans in a rat model. Concentrated immune milk was fed to rats once a day for 55 days. The group that received immune milk had significantly less caries development than controls.

Role of the C-terminal YG repeats of the primer-dependent streptococcal glucosyltransferase, GtfJ, in binding to dextran and mutan

The recombinant primer-dependent glucosyltransferase GtfJ of Streptococcus salivarius possesses a C-terminal glucan-binding domain composed of eighteen 21 aa YG repeats. By engineering a series of C-terminal truncated proteins, the position at which truncation prevented further mutan synthesis was defined to a region of 43 aa, confirming that not all of the YG motifs were required for the formation of mutan by GtfJ. The role of the YG repeats in glucan binding was investigated in detail. Three proteins consisting of 3·8, 7·2 or 11·0 C-terminal YG repeats were expressed in Escherichia coli. Each of the three purified proteins bound to both the 1,6-α-linked glucose residues of dextran and the 1,3-α-linked glucose residues of mutan, indicating that a protein consisting of nothing but 3·8 YG repeats could attach to either substrate. Secondary structure predictions of the primary amino acid sequence suggested that 37% of the amino acids were capable of forming a structure such that five regions of β-sheet were separated by regions capable of forming β-turns and random coils. CD spectral analysis showed that the purified 3·8 YG protein possessed an unordered secondary structure with some evidence of possible β-sheet formation and that the protein maintained this relatively unordered structure on binding to dextran.

Galactose oxidase-glucan binding domain fusion proteins as targeting inhibitors of dental plaque bacteria.

In order to inhibit the growth of bacteria present in the human oral cavity, a novel system which targets antimicrobial agents to dental plaque has been developed. This system involves a hybrid protein consisting of a peptide expressing the bactericidal properties of galactose oxidase (GAO) fused to the glucan binding domain (GBD) of the Streptococcus mutans glucosyltransferase-S enzyme. A gene encoding GAO from the fungus Fusarium sp. has been inserted into an Escherichia coli expression vector and fused to sequences encoding the GBD, which binds to the glucans synthesized by oral streptococci. Bacterial extracts expressing the hybrid protein were tested for their ability to target the GAO activity to an in vitro plaque model consisting of streptococcal cells bound to microtiter plate wells. The binding of the hybrid protein to the streptococcal cells through its GBD and the dependence of binding on the production of glucans by bacteria were demonstrated. Furthermore, killing of three different species of oral streptococci by bound hybrid protein in conjunction with the galactose-lactoperoxidase-iodide cytotoxic system has been demonstrated. These results suggest a novel strategy for controlling dental plaque formation as well as dental caries in humans.