Enzymatic tools for the treatment of caries-associated biofilms: Investigating the enzymes of a putative polysaccharide utilization locus from Prevotella melaninogenica and their application against Streptococcus mutans biofilm
Dylan James Erasmus, Adelita Carolina Santiago, Sebastião Pratavieira, Neil Thomas Stacey, Igor Polikarpov · 2026
Read Enzymatic tools for the treatment of caries-associated biofilms: Investigating the enzymes of a putative polysaccharide utilization locus from Prevotella melaninogenica and their application against Streptococcus mutans biofilm by Dylan James Erasmus, Adelita Carolina Santiago, Sebastião Pratavieira, Neil Thomas Stacey, Igor Polikarpov (2026) in the Tower of Babel, a free online library of public-domain works preserved in clean, searchable text. No sign-up. The full text is served as a plain-text file at a predictable URL, where text is present: https://antarctic-labs.com/tower-of-babel/PMC13421300.txt.
Description
Dylan James Erasmus and four colleagues explore, in a 2026 study, whether enzymes borrowed from a mouth bacterium could dissolve the biofilms behind tooth decay. They focused on a predicted gene cluster in Prevotella melaninogenica whose enzymes break down complex sugars, including one known to cut a key linkage in the sticky matrix that Streptococcus mutans builds.
Three enzymes from the cluster were produced in the laboratory, characterised structurally and biochemically, and tested alone and in combination against S. mutans biofilms grown in vitro. Biomass measurements and microscope images confirmed that the enzymes removed biofilm. The authors present enzyme treatment as a possible complement to mechanical cleaning in preventing or managing caries.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Dylan James Erasmus, Adelita Carolina Santiago, Sebastião Pratavieira, Neil Thomas Stacey, Igor Polikarpov |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 61 KB |
| LICENSE | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |