Salivary agglutinin

The salivary glands also secrete urea, which some oral bacteria convert to ammonia and carbon dioxide with an enzyme, urease. The greater content of ammonia results in the oral cavity being better buffered to acids and better protection from caries (Chap. 15, Sect. 3). Calcium and phosphate are also present in saliva at supersaturating concentrations but do not precipitate due to protein chelation. Whole saliva also contains small amounts of various other proteins proteases, protease inhibitors (cystatins), type IV carbonic anhydrase, statherin, histatins, lysozyme, salivary agglutinin, and immunoglobulin A. 

Salivary agglutinin and mucin Secretory immunoglobulin (slgA)... 

Salivary agglutinin, identical to lung glycoprotein-340 (gGP-340) and a protein with an unrelated function in nervous tissue (DMBT1), is a highly conserved bacterial receptor. In the lungs and saliva where it is secreted, it attaches to many different bacteria, including... 

Salivary agglutinin is a member of the scavenger receptor cysteine-rich (SRCR) super-family, a group of large ( 2,400 amino acids mol wt 262 kDa) cell surface and secreted glycoproteins. These glycoproteins are characterized by SRCR and SRCR-interspersed (SID) domains illustrated in Fig. 12.16. Other proteins in this family include (1) the... 

The salivary proline-rich proteins have a two-domain structure, a proline poorN-terminal domain that is acidic or basic and determines enamel binding, and a proline-rich C-terminal domain that determines bacterial binding. Individual variations in acidic proline-rich proline allelic composition and in the amount of salivary agglutinin, a secreted innate immunity protein that binds bacteria, may account for differences in biofilm composition and dental caries susceptibility. 

Another member of the viridans streptococci, S. mutans, plays an important role in the formation of dental caries and binds tightly to tooth surfaces. The bacterium is capable of binding salivary components such as salivary agglutinin. It has been shown that S. mutans can bind to Lewis antigen carbohydrate epitopes containing fucose residues that are present on salivary agglutinin [48],... 

Ligtenbeig AJ, Veerman EC, Nieuw Amerongen AV (2000) A role for Lewis a antigens on salivary agglutinin in binding to Streptococcus mutans. Antonie Van Leeuwenhoek 77 21-30... 

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