Affiliation:
1. Departments of Periodontology and Oral Biology, Goldman School of Dental Medicine
2. Department of Medicine
3. Departments of Periodontology and Oral Biology, Goldman School of Dental Medicine, Department of Biochemistry, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston University Medical Center, 715 Albany Street, Boston, MA 02118, USA
Abstract
While more and more is known about the structure and function of human salivary mucins, there is relatively little information on quantification of these glycoconjugates in whole saliva and on factors influencing their secretion. The goal of the present work was to develop capture ELISAs that would allow for rapid, inexpensive, and reliable measurement of the salivary mucins MG1 and MG2, and to use these immunological procedures to investigate the significance of age, gender, flow rate, and protein concentration on mucin levels in whole saliva. Previously, we described a rabbit polyclonal antibody against MG1 (Troxler et al., 1995) and a rabbit polyclonal peptide antibody against an epitope in the N-terminal region of MG2 (Liu et al., 1999) which were used to develop the capture ELISAs. We verified the accuracy and specificity of these assays by showing correct measurement of known quantities of purified MG1 or MG2 added to whole saliva and lack of cross-reactivity between mucins and heterologous antisera on Western blots or in ELISAs. Whole saliva was collected from 60 subjects under conditions of masticatory stimulation, flow rates were recorded, and mucin concentrations were determined. The results showed that the mean concentration of MG1 and MG2 was 23.3 ± 14.6 mg% and 13.3 ± 11.6 mg%, respectively, and that mucins constitute approximately 16% of the total protein in whole saliva. No significant correlations were found between mucin levels and age or flow rate; however, a significant correlation was found between MG2 levels and total protein concentration. Furthermore, there were statistically significant gender differences in flow rate and MG1 levels, but not in MG2 levels. The availability of these immunoassays for quantification of MG1 and MG2 will help to elucidate the role of mucin in oral health and disease.
Cited by
72 articles.
订阅此论文施引文献
订阅此论文施引文献,注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献,订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献